Illegal Israeli Jewish settlers today uprooted 450 olive and almond saplings in the village of Deir Sharaf, west of Nablus.
In west Bethlehem, Israeli soldiers and settlers also uprooted about 300 vine trees in the village of Israeli occupation forces and colonists Thursday uprooted about 300 vine trees in the village of Battir, west of Bethlehem.
Olive and Almond Trees
Ghazi Antri, the landowner in Deir Sharaf, said that he entered his land, located in proximity to the illegal settlement bloc of Shafi Shomron, but he was completely shocked to find out that Jewish settlers had uprooted about 450 olive and almond saplings from his ten-dunum of land.
Antri explained to the official news agency WAFA that he had been working on his land since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, where he planted approximately 250 trees, in addition to 200 that were previously planted in the same location.
The settlers took advantage of the drop of temperatures during the last three days to destroy and damage his saplings, Antri added.
The devastated farmer pointed out that this is the fourth time that settlers have uprooted trees in his land during the last two years.
BLINKEN: US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that he imposed financial sanctions on 4 Israelis linked to violence against civilians in the West Bank, in accordance with the executive order signed by US President Joe Biden today.
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Vine Trees
Local sources reported that the occupation forces, with military reinforcements and armed settlers, stormed the Al-Hanjaliyah Al-Qusayr area, east of the village of Battir, bulldozing a 5-dunum area of land owned by local resident Ibrahim Khalil Abu Nimah.
Eyewitnesses told WAFA that the occupation forces closed the road between Battir and Husan.
The outcome was the uprooting of 300 vine trees belonging to the Palestinian farmer.
Settler Violence
Estimates indicate that about 700,000 Israeli settlers are living in 164 illegal settlements and 116 outposts in the occupied West Bank. 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 genocidal war against the Gaza Strip on October 7.
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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Additionally, over 6,000 Palestinians were detained within the same period.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, new massacres were reported today, killing and wounding hundreds of Palestinians.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 27,019 Palestinians have been killed, and 66,139 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7. Palestinian and international estimates say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
