Israeli forces expel farmer from their land in Nablus

Israeli forces detained a Palestinian farmer on Friday afternoon, shortly after expelling several others from their lands while picking olives in the Nablus district of the occupied West Bank.

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official who monitors settlement activities in the northern West Bank, told Ma’an that Israeli forces expelled the farmers while they picked olives on their agricultural lands in the village of Qusin, west of Nablus.

Daghlas added that Israeli forces detained 45-year-old farmer Radwan Mutlaq Abu Laila.

It remained unclear as to why Abu Laila was detained, or if he was released from Israeli custody.

Israeli forces also closed the Huwwara checkpoint in southern Nablus this afternoon to allow Israeli settlers from the nearby illegal Yitzhar settlement to march freely.

Israeli forces prevented dozens of Palestinians from entering the town of Beita – whose main entrance is located at the Huwwara junction – as the settlers protested the “vandalism” of large cinder blocks on the settlement’s property, which they said were spray painted by local Palestinian youths.

An Israeli army spokesperson said they were looking into reports of both the expulsion and detention of the farmers, as well as the protests and road closures at Huwwara.