Israelis destroy 150 olive trees in West Bank
Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinian olive farms in a village near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, cutting down more than 150 trees.
The Israeli settlers attacked the olive orchards in the al-Jab’a village outside of Bethlehem, the International Middle East Media Center reported on Wednesday.
Resident Mahmoud Masha’la said “this is the fifth attack in a row, they are waging a war not only on us, but on our daily bread, our livelihood,” adding, “They repeatedly attack our lands and orchards, my orchards, my cousins, and many other villagers; this is a systematic policy.”
Masha’la continued by saying “We really do not know what to do; this is an ongoing war, ongoing aggression.”
The olive industry provides a livelihood for about 80,000 Palestinian families in the West Bank. Israel has uprooted over 800,000 olive trees in the occupied territories since 1967.
Settlers, mostly armed, regularly attack Palestinian villages and farms and set fire to their mosques, olive groves and other properties in the West Bank under the so-called “price tag” policy.
Price tag attacks are acts of vandalism and violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property as well as Islamic holy sites.
The attacks are carried out with impunity. Palestinians say the violent attacks by Israeli settlers are systematic and are often ignored by Israeli officials.
The Al-Tadamun Foundation for Human Rights, a Palestinian NGO, said in an annual 2014 report that an estimated 8,000 trees, some of them hundreds of years old, were damaged and destroyed altogether by the Israelis last year.
CAH/NN/HRB
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