NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli settler bulldozers under the protection of Israeli army and intelligence forces uprooted hundreds of olive trees from Palestinian lands in the village of Iskaka in eastern Salfit on Wednesday morning. Local activist Khalid Maali told Ma’an that two bulldozers belonging to settlers from the illegal Israeli outpost of Nefih Hanania and the nearby Rachelim settlement razed 35 dunams (8.6 acres) of agricultural land planted with some 500 olive trees in the eastern al-Bayyada area of the village, near the outpost and settlement. Head of the Iskaka village council Abd al-Qader Abu Hakmeh told Ma’an that villagers were taken by surprise when the convoy stormed the village and uprooted the olive trees without giving prior notice, under the pretext that they were located on state lands confiscated by Israel. A spokesperson for Israel's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which is responsible for implementing the Israeli governme...

Israeli settlers on Saturday destroyed more than 1,000 olive trees near the village of al-Shuyukh north of Hebron, in the third such attack on the villagers' livelihood in recent memory. Local activist Ahmad al-Halayqa told Ma'an that Israelis from the nearby settlement of Asfar, also known as Metzad, attacked the village and destroyed 1,200 trees. He said that all of the destroyed trees had been recently planted following a similar attack by individuals from the same settlement which had destroyed trees in the area last month. He said that the trees in the area belonged to local Palestinian farmer, Muhammad Abu Shanab al-Ayaydah as well as the children of Abd al-Qader Abu Shanab al-Ayaydah and Mousa Abu Shanab al-Ayayadah. Al-Halayqa told Ma'an that the settlement of Asfar is located on land confiscated by Israeli authorities from Palestinian residents of al-Shuyukh, and now they hope to expand the land under their control by taking over the area where the olive trees...

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces uprooted 300 olive trees on private Palestinian land in the Nablus village of Salem on Monday, Palestinian liaison officials said. Director of the Nablus District Civil Liaison Office, Luay al-Saadi, told Ma'an that Israeli bulldozers uprooted the trees 48 hours after his office had requested that Palestinian farmers be given access to plow the land. The fields are located near the illegal Israeli outpost of Havat Skali. There were at least 329 incidents of settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in 2014, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. more

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlers on Tuesday uprooted 53 olive trees in Kafr Laqif village west of Qalqiliya, officials said. Ghassan Douglas, a Palestinian Authority official who monitors settlement activities in the northern West Bank, said that a number of Israeli settlers from the Karni Shomron settlement uprooted around 53 olive trees belonging to Suleiman Jaber. In a separate incident, Israeli settlers from the Yitzhar settlement assaulted and beat a Palestinian man, Mohammad al-Zein, from Burin village south of Nablus. At the time of the attack, al-Zein was cultivating his land. He suffered from various wounds as a result of the assault. more

HEBRON (Ma'an) -- A group of settlers uprooted over 40 olive trees in the south Hebron hills late Sunday, a local official said. Ratib al-Jabour, coordinator of the popular committee against the wall and settlements, said that settlers from Maon destroyed olive trees in the neighboring village of al-Tuwani. The trees belong to the al-Rabai family. Settlers routinely attack Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank with impunity. Annual figures compiled by Israeli rights group Yesh Din have repeatedly shown that nine out of 10 police investigations about settler crimes fail to lead to a prosecution. more See also: Call to action: Join ISM for the 2013 Olive Harvest Campaign

On Friday 10th May, a group of settlers from Ma'on settlement uprooted around 70 olive trees in Kherbit al-Tawani area, south of Hebron in the West Bank. Coordinator of popular committee to resist wall and settlement in Hebron, Rateb al-Jbour, said that settlers sneaked into the area at night, and uprooted olive trees belonging to the two brothers Ayed and Khader Ibrahim al-Amour. more

On Friday 23rd November, Settlers uprooted 400 olive trees east of Yatta village, south of Hebron, which belonged to Palestinian Abu Iyad Hoshiya. Hoshiya said that he went to his land in the morning and saw that 400 olive trees were uprooted by settlers from Karma'il settlement, constructed on the lands of Yatta village. Hoshiya confirmed that settlers spray-painted racist slogans on the ground and the uprooted trees and one of the slogans was: "This is a revenge for Tel Aviv and Be'er Sheva that were hit by rocket attack." more

Local sources reported Tuesday that a number of Israeli settlers uprooted nearly 25 newly-planted olive trees that belong to residents of Beit Ummar town, north of the southern West bank city of Hebron. The lands are subject to frequent attacks by the settlers who aim at taking over the Palestinian lands in the area in order to expand their outposts. Yousef Abu Maria, coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Beit Ummar, told the Quds Press news agency that dozens of settlers attacked the area and uprooted the trees while Israeli soldiers, present in the area, did not attempt to stop them. The land is located in near the illegal settlement of Karmie Tzur, north of Beit Ummar. more

Thanks to Mondoweiss Israeli forces arrested three Palestinians from the town of Qabatya, south of Jenin, on Wednesday morning, while Israeli settlers in the southern West Bank sprayed a family of Palestinians, including a 10-year-old boy, with gas. In Jenin refugee camp, local sources reporting to Palestinian government news wire Wafa said that “a huge number” of forces accompanied by a low-flying helicopter conducted a four hour raid in which troops searched all the neighborhoods in the camp. By dawn soldiers had arrested Anas Atta Kamil, 27, Ahmed Hisham Kamil, 26—a student in the American University in Jenin and released prisoner—and 24-year-old Yazan Ateb Obaideh. more

(pic: A Palestinian woman checks an olive farm that was destroyed by Israeli settlers in Qasra village near Nablus -pchr) Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) IOF continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank. Dozens of Palestinian civilians and international human rights defenders suffered from tear gas inhalation. 6 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, sustained bruises in Hebron. IOF conducted 47 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. IOF arrested 12 Palestinians, including two children. Israel has continued to impose a total closure on the OPT and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world. Israeli soldiers arrested 3 Palestinian civilians, including a child, at various checkpoints in the West Bank. Israel has continued measures aimed at creating a Jewish majority in East Jerusalem. The Israeli government plans to ...

From the International Solidarity Movement Gaza doesn’t have very much farmland left. The expanding no go zone imposed by Israeli bullets and bulldozers constantly erode the amount of land left for Palestinians to farm in Gaza. Mohamed Ashure Shimbari lives on the edge of the no-go zone. If you look east from his land you see the no go zone, what Israel euphemistically refers to as “the buffer zone.” Little grows there. Israeli bulldozers regularly come to kill anything which has managed to find a life there. You can see the destroyed well which once provided water for the orchards that used to cover the no-go zone. Now, there is no water, and no life, only a zone of death. Israel claims that the buffer zone is “only” 300 meters wide, but Mohamed’s land is about 800 meters from the border, and still he is afraid. The Israelis often shoot into this area, especially at night. The olive harvest has begun in Gaza. The Beit Hanoun Local Initiative and the International Solidarity Mo...

( Maan Images ) NABLUS (AFP) -- Jewish settlers clashed with Palestinian farmers on Sunday, as they tried to pick olives from land owned by relatives of two men convicted of killing a settler family. At least three Palestinians were injured when dozens of settlers from Itamar armed with sticks and stones attacked the group of about 50 workers harvesting olives, on land belonging to the Awwad family from the nearby village of Awarta, an AFP correspondent reported. Palestinian Authority settlement affairs official Ghassan Doughlas said the settlers also stole equipment and threw rocks at farmers. "Settlers are trying to increase the tension with the beginning of the olive picking season," Doughlas told official news agency Wafa. Israeli troops arrived at the scene and broke up the clashes, while settlers remained close by, throwing stones and shouting: "Death to the Awwad family." more

NABLUS ( Ma’an ) -- A group of Israeli settlers torched agricultural fields on Thursday near the village of Burin in the West Bank city of Nablus. “Some settlers from the Yizhar settlement adjacent to the village set fire to the area south of the village and fled the scene,” Head of Burin village council Ali Ead told Ma'an. “The fire had erupted in wide areas of fields planted with olive trees.” Hundreds of residents in the village arrived at the scene and helped extinguish the fire. An almost identical attack took place one week ago as settlers from Yizhar set fire to dozens of dunams of Palestinian land. more

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, ( PIC )-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) escorted bulldozers in a demolition raid in Jib village to the northwest of occupied Jerusalem on Monday, local sources said. They said that the bulldozers razed a house and carpentry workshop of one of the citizens, a mini market, fences and other installations in Khalaila suburb before heading to another area. The sources noted that the Israeli occupation authority had served demolition notices to 30 Palestinian families in the suburb a while ago on the pretext their homes were built without permit. They pointed out that the soldiers assaulted owners of the homes and shops and fired tear gas at the citizens who tried to intervene and stop the demolition and arrested a number of them. Meanwhile, IOF soldiers sealed off the southern Nablus area of Wadi Qana after declaring it a closed military zone on Monday. Local sources said that military bulldozers then destroyed tens of olive trees in the area. PIC A further 450 olive t...