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Israel settlers uproot olive trees in Nablus

February 1, 2018 at 10:41 am

Palestinian farmers inspect the damage done to their olive trees that were cut down by Israeli settlers [Issam Rimawi/Anadolu Agency]

Several Israeli settlers uprooted dozens of olive trees on Palestinian lands in the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus yesterday.

Ghassan Daghlas, an official who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma’an that Israeli settlers from the illegal Rahhalim settlement uprooted dozens of olive trees belonging to Palestinians from the Nablus-area village of Yassuf.

Daghlas added that the trees and the land belong to Muhammad Saleh Hijazi.

Between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis live in illegal Jewish-only settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law

The majority of settler thefts committed against Palestinians are met with impunity, with Israelis rarely facing consequences for such thefts.

Read: Settlers raze Palestinian olive trees in Nablus

Only 1.9 per cent of complaints submitted by Palestinians against Israeli settler attacks or theft result in a conviction, while 95.6 per cent of investigations of damage to olive trees are closed due to failures of Israeli police, according to the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din.

Yesh Din, along with Israeli rights group B’Tselem, has previously condemned Israeli authorities for failing to protect Palestinians from settlers violence or investigate attacks, particularly during olive harvest season, when incidents of attacks on harvesters and their olive groves have been a near daily occurrence in past years.