Israel uproots 300 olive trees in Jordan Valley

Israeli occupation bulldozers yesterday uprooted 300 olive trees in the village of Bardalla in the northern area of Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, Arab48 reported.

Anti-settlement activist in Jordan Valley Rashad Khodari reported that a large number of Israeli occupation forces raided the village and uprooting the trees.

He said that the Israeli occupation authorities claim that the land is owned by the state and it is located in the region designated as “Area B” by the Oslo Accords.

The Jordan Valley is home to some 10,000 Palestinians, including 5,000 in the northern area.

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Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have repeatedly stressed that Israel will never give up its security control of the Jordan Valley due to its importance to Israel’s economy and security.

The Oslo Accords, reached between Israel and the PLO in 1993, divided the occupied West Bank into three areas: A, B and C. Area C comprises 61 per cent of the West Bank and it is under full Israeli security and administrative control.  Area B was designated as under Palestinian civil control and joint Israeli-Palestinian security control, while Area A is exclusively administered by the Palestinian Authority.