Description

A Palestinian farmer from the village of Qaryut near the northern West Bank city of Nablus inspects the remains of his vandalized olive trees on 9 October. Jewish settlers from a nearby settlement colony are suspected of perpetrating the overnight attack.
(Nedal Eshtayah / APA images)


NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Jewish extremists cut down over 120 olive trees on private Palestinian land in Nablus on Tuesday, a Palestinian Authority official said.

The vandals were from the illegal settlement of Eli, Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settler activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma'an.

Eyewitnesses said the settlers used chainsaws to destroy the trees, which belonged to 12 farmers in the village of Qaryut.

The attack comes on the official start date for the olive harvest in restricted areas of Nablus.

The set date was to enable farmers and local committees to better organize against potential settler attacks, as many restricted access areas lie adjacent to settlements.

Settler attacks often increase around the time of the olive harvest season as settlers target olive trees and agricultural land.

The Nablus district experienced the majority of settler violence in 2011.

On Sunday, a group of settlers attacked Palestinian farmers in the Ramallah town of Beitillu, burning dozens of olive trees, while settlers uprooted around 40 olive trees in the nearby Ramallah village of Ras Karkar.

On Friday, settlers destroyed 100 newly-planted olive saplings and at least 60 vine trees on private Palestinian land in Al-Khader village near Bethlehem.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs reported that over 2,500 olive trees were destroyed in September 2011, and 7,500 throughout 2011.

Settler attacks on Palestinian communities and their property are systematic and rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities.