Jewish settlers on Thursday uprooted more than 300 olive trees in the village of Al-Mazraa al-Garbieh, near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, as part of their continued attack on olive harvesting season, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
Saade Zaqqout, head of Al-Mazraa village council, told WAFA that Palestinian farmers there woke up to see their olive groves vandalized on a land close to the illegal Jewish settlement of Kerem Reim.
Israeli settlers uproot, destroy over 300 olive trees in Ramallah https://t.co/WODMQkJkfk
— Joe Catron (@jncatron) October 21, 2021
Settlers installed an iron gate and cement blocks on the road to prevent Palestinian farmers from accessing their land.
It comes as Palestinian residents prepare for the annual olive harvest, with farmers regularly harassed and assaulted by settlers during the season.
Poetry in Photos: The ‘Ancient Olive Grove’ and the Children of Gaza https://t.co/KuaT85Ox5f via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/4rFFb4Mm8K
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) October 19, 2021
Olives are a key source of income for Palestinian farmers and settlers have also targeted the crops, setting fire to trees and poisoning plants.
More than 600,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in constructions considered illegal under international law.
(The New Arab, PC, Social Media)
