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NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlers on Tuesday destroyed dozens of olive trees in a northern West Bank village, a PA official said.

Residents of Havat Gilad outpost entered a private field owned by Nayif Raihan, from Tell village south of Nablus, and chopped down 41 trees, Ghassan Daghlas, a PA official monitoring settlement activity in the area, said.

In 2011, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that settler attacks had increased by 50 percent on the previous year.

The Nablus area experienced the majority of settler violence during this period, with settlers routinely destroying Palestinian agricultural crops, vandalizing property, and physically assaulting locals, according to a study by The Palestine Center.

All Jewish-only settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law.

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by Giulio Pusateri - IMEMC & Agencies

Israeli settlers wrecked numerous olive trees in a Nablus village, in the West Bank.

On Tuesday Israeli settlers from the illegal outpost of Havat Gilad entered a privately owned Palestinian field and destroyed 41 olive trees, reports Ma'an news agency. Olive trees are very important in the West Bank as they often are the main source of income for Palestinian families residing in the area.

According to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 2011 saw a 50% increase in settler violence when compared with the previous year. The area around Nablus has especially been targeted with acts of vandalism, physical assaults on locals, and damaging of agricultural crops.