Israeli forces uprooted roughly 3,000 olive trees in al-Mughayyir, ordering removal across a 0.27 sq-km area of the village. The army justified the measure by saying the trees posed a security threat to a settlement road that runs through village lands. Al-Mughayyir was placed under lockdown after a reported shooting at a settler, and soldiers reportedly stormed more than 30 homes, destroying property and vehicles. Uprooting olive trees has long been used to seize Palestinian land and displace residents, damaging livelihoods and cultural heritage. The West Bank has seen a surge in military and settler violence since October 2023, with over 2,370 settler attacks reported from January to July 2024.
The Israeli military has destroyed about 3,000 olive trees in a village near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, the head of the local council says, as Palestinians face a continued wave of violence across the territory in the shadow of Israel's war on Gaza. The Israeli military issued an order on Saturday to uproot olive trees in a 0.27sq-km (0.1sq-mile) area in al-Mughayyir, a village of about 4,000 residents northeast of Ramallah.
The deputy head of the village council, Marzouq Abu Naim, told Palestinian news agency Wafa that Israeli soldiers had stormed more than 30 homes since dawn on Saturday, destroying residents' property and vehicles. For decades, the Israeli military has uprooted olive trees an important Palestinian cultural symbol across the occupied Palestinian territory as part of the country's efforts to seize Palestinian land and forcibly displace residents.
The West Bank also has seen a surge in Israeli military and settler violence since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, and tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forced out of their homes. More than 2,370 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians have been reported across the area from January 2024 to the end of July this year, according to the latest figures from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
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