Israeli occupiers burn olive trees as army expels Palestinian farmers in occupied West Bank

Israeli occupiers set fire to olive trees east of Qalqilya in the northern West Bank on Thursday, while Israeli soldiers forced Palestinian farmers to leave their land and prevented them from continuing the harvest, according to local sources. The sources told Anadolu that Israeli occupiers stormed the Al-Shabaat area on land belonging to the village of Imatin east of Qalqilya and set olive trees ablaze. In the same area, army soldiers forced Palestinian farmers harvesting olives in the Al-Jabal area to leave their land and detained a landowner and his workers, the sources said. Since the olive harvest season began in early October, areas across the occupied West Bank have witnessed repeated attacks by Israeli occupiers, including crop theft, assaults on farmers, forcing them from their land and preventing them from reaching or working in their fields, according to Anadolu’s monitoring. The Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC) documented 409 attacks targeting olive farmers, trees, farmland and agricultural equipment across the West Bank between Oct. 1 and 21. The commission said 317 of the attacks were carried out by Israeli occupiers, while 92 were committed by the Israeli army. Since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023, Israeli forces and occupiers have intensified attacks on Palestinians and their property across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Palestinians warn that the measures are paving the way for Israel to formally annex the West Bank, undermining prospects for establishing a Palestinian state under relevant UN resolutions. ​​​​​​​In 1948, Israel was established on Palestinian land seized by armed Zionist groups whose attacks and massacres displaced at least 750,000 Palestinians. Israel occupied the remaining Palestinian territories in 1967 and has refused to withdraw from them.