Israel Bulldozes, Uproots Hundreds of Palestinian Olive Trees Over 60 Years Old Near Bethlehem

On Monday, March 9, 2026, Israeli forces bulldozed nearly 50 dunums in the al-Buq‘a site of Wadi al-Hummus east of Bethlehem.

“BETHLEHEM, March 9, 2026 (WAFA) — Israeli occupation forces uprooted hundreds of olive trees on Monday in the Wadi al-Hummus area near the town of Dar Salah and the village of al-Khas, east of Bethlehem, according to a local activist”

WAFA Agency

The operation uprooted hundreds of olive trees, some over 60 years old, and several forest trees that belong to residents of Bethlehem and Sur Baher.

WAFA Agency

Local activist Nidal Hazibi told WAFA that troops had entered the area about a week earlier and opened a gap in the separation wall to enable the land leveling, a deliberate operation that destroyed longstanding private orchards and family-owned trees.

The bulldozing fits a pattern described in regional reporting.

Authorities close off large tracts of Palestinian land under the stated pretext of 'security,' a policy that simultaneously clears ground for settler expansion.

www.saba.ye

WAFA's account that troops breached the separation barrier to facilitate leveling underscores how military operations and physical barriers are used together to seize and transform Palestinian land, not merely to enforce security restrictions.

Uprooting hundreds of olive trees — many more than 60 years old — is an attack on Palestinian livelihoods and heritage.

“BETHLEHEM, March 9, 2026 (WAFA) — Israeli occupation forces uprooted hundreds of olive trees on Monday in the Wadi al-Hummus area near the town of Dar Salah and the village of al-Khas, east of Bethlehem, according to a local activist”

WAFA Agency

Olive groves are economically and culturally central to families in Bethlehem and Sur Baher; destroying mature trees erases long-term sources of income and severs intergenerational ties to the land.

WAFA’s detailed inventory of the trees lost — combined with reports of land closures and settler expansion in regional summaries — indicates this is not an isolated property dispute but part of broader dispossession dynamics.

The action occurred against a backdrop of intensified regional violence and administrative pressure on Palestinians.

Saba’s summary notes a broader escalation, including heavy casualty figures reported from Gaza and Lebanon.

www.saba.ye

It also records administrative moves — such as Israeli courts postponing all prisoner hearings at Ofer and Salem — and highlights how military, legal, and political measures together increase pressure on Palestinian communities across occupied areas.

The sources documenting the al-Buq‘a bulldozing — WAFA's on-the-ground reporting and regional summaries from Saba — present the event as a deliberate seizure and destruction of Palestinian land and property.

“BETHLEHEM, March 9, 2026 (WAFA) — Israeli occupation forces uprooted hundreds of olive trees on Monday in the Wadi al-Hummus area near the town of Dar Salah and the village of al-Khas, east of Bethlehem, according to a local activist”

WAFA Agency

The provided materials do not characterise this specific bulldozing as "genocide"; they emphasise land closure, settler expansion, and the destruction of olive trees as part of ongoing dispossession.

WAFA Agency

Additional independent investigations and wider reporting would be required to place this incident within legal frameworks or to assess criminal responsibility.