DEIR NIZAM, West Bank, Sept 23 (Reuters) – Palestinian villagers wailed over the mangled remains of their olive trees on Wednesday after Israel’s military uprooted them with bulldozers, days ahead of the annual olive harvest, normally a source of joy for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Abd Alfattah Tamimi, who owns an olive grove on village land near Ramallah city, watched as a military bulldozer smashed the top of one of his trees and then tore its roots from the ground.
“All our olive trees, including the newly planted ones, were uprooted. Also our neighbours’, they uprooted them all,” Tamimi said, adding that he and his neighbours own nearly 9 acres of land filled with olive trees.
“They left us with nothing,” he said.
Israel’s military said it was checking Reuters’ request for comment but had not responded by Wednesday evening.
In the past, the military has cited the need to clear land of olive trees to prevent security threats or ambushes on troops.
Palestinian human rights groups reject this, saying the destruction in effect deprives Palestinian farmers of income from the sale of olives and olive oil while uprooting trees they view as a symbol of their connection to the land.
The olive harvest usually begins in the first week of October. Olives are the backbone of Palestinian agriculture, a sector that accounts for around 8% of GDP and more than 60,000 jobs, according to the Palestinian Authority’s agriculture ministry.
Palestinian activists and farmers expect this year’s harvest to be particularly volatile, amid a record surge in Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians and Palestinian resources in the territory.
Nather Tamimi, another landowner in the area of Deir Nizam village near Ramallah, said the loss of the trees was particularly painful in that it came so close to the start of the harvest.
“From this land, my brothers and I produce 120 drums of olive oil. Our neighbours produce the same,” said Tamimi, speaking while looking over his olive grove.
“They uprooted trees everywhere, even between the houses,” he said.
(Reporting by Mohammed Torokman and Mustafa Abu Ganeyeh; editing by Rami Ayyub)
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