Middle East Monitor / August 3, 2023
Israeli occupation forces today destroyed and uprooted dozens of olive trees in the town of Battir, west of occupied Bethlehem, WAFA News Agency reported.
According to a local Palestinian activist, an Israeli army unit broke into the eastern part of the village during a morning raid and proceeded to raze four dunums (one acre) of land, vandalizing dozens of olive trees owned by local resident Mazen Abu Ne’me.
He added that the area has been recently targeted by groups of extremist Jewish settlers who set up caravans, as a prelude to setting up a new illegal outpost and preventing Palestinian residents from accessing their lands.
Under international law, both the West Bank and East Jerusalem are occupied territories. All Jewish settlement building is, therefore, illegal.
Meanwhile, in the village of Zanuta, south of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, 20 beehives were set on fire and burnt by settlers.
Yousef al-Sharha, the owner of the beehives, told WAFA that the settlers, who had destroyed his beehives, had recently set up a caravan and established a settlement outpost next to his apiary.
According to Mondoweiss, the settlers operate by descending en-masse on different sites, where they then set up tents and mobile caravans before declaring them new settlements.
The settlers had burnt 20 out of 50 beehives he owns, which caused him a loss of more than $10,000.
Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the occupied West Bank and is rarely sanctioned by the Israeli authorities.
Over 700,000 Israeli’s live in Jewish-only settlements across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in violation of international law. All of Israel’s settlements and the settlers who live there are illegal under international law.
