Israeli settlers have burned more than 100 olive and fig trees on farmland near the city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, witnesses say.

The incident took place on Tuesday in the Palestinian village of Nahalin, which is located southwest of Bethlehem, AFP reported.

Osama Shakarna, the head of the Nahalin council, said two settlers burned lands in Matabekh area, northwest of the village.

Israeli officials made no immediate comment on the incident, which occurred one day after the beginning of the olive harvest.

Meanwhile, the UN human rights office called on Israel on Tuesday to stop settlers from attacking Palestinians.

Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN high commissioner for human rights, criticized the uprooting of 200 olive trees in the West Bank village of Qusra on October 6, and the fatal shooting of a Palestinian by an Israeli soldier and the beating of two Palestinian minors detained by Israeli troops in the village in September.

Colville said the rise in attacks since the beginning of September was “emblematic of the phenomenon of settler violence throughout the West Bank.”

Olive cultivation and its related businesses in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially the Gaza Strip, have been severely damaged due to Israeli attacks.

Hundreds of olive trees have been uprooted and mosques have been attacked by the Israeli settlers over the past few weeks.

Israeli soldiers have several times clashed with the settlers, who describe their actions as the “price tag” for the “unfair” Israeli policies.

(Press TV)