Israel settlers uproot 450 olive, almond trees in occupied West Bank

Illegal settlers today uprooted 450 olive and almond trees in the village of Deir Sharaf, located west of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.

Ghazi Antri, the Palestinian landowner, recounted entering his property near the illegal settlement of Shavei Shomron to discover that Israeli settlers had uprooted around 450 olive and almond saplings from his ten-dunum (2.5-acre) land.

He revealed to Wafa news agency that he had been working on his land since the beginning of the attacks against the Gaza Strip, planting approximately 250 new trees, in addition to the existing 200.

The settlers from the Shavei Shomron settlement, he explained, were protected by Israeli forces and took advantage of the drop in temperatures over the last three days to destroy and damage his trees. He further explained that this is the fourth time that the settlers have uprooted trees on his land over the last two years.

Estimates indicate that about 700,000 Israeli settlers are living in 164 settlements and 116 outposts in the occupied West Bank, adjacent to East Jerusalem. Under international law, all Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal.

Tensions have been running high across the West Bank since Israel launched a deadly military offensive against the Gaza Strip on 7 October.

More than 370 Palestinians have since been killed and almost 4,400 others injured by Israeli forces in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Of these 370 fatalities, 360 were killed by Israeli forces, eight by Israeli settlers and two by either Israeli forces or settlers.

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