Israeli settlers destroy Palestinian olive trees in West Bank

Olive trees make up 14% of the West Bank’s agricultural income Nablus – Arabstoday Around 200 olive trees in a northern West Bank village were discovered vandalised on Friday, with residents blaming settlers from a nearby outpost for the damage. According to a report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs [OCHA], nearly half [48 percent] of agricultural land in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is planted with eight million olive trees, the vast majority of which can be found in the West Bank. The Palestinian olive oil industry makes up 14 percent of agricultural income and supports the livelihoods of approximately 80,000 families.
According to Palestinian security officials as well as residents of Qusra, located 28 kilometres southeast of Nablus, residents of the nearby Esh Kodesh settlement outpost were behind the latest destruction.
Qusra and Esh Kodesh residents had already clashed on Thursday, with Palestinians throwing stones at the settlers who according to Palestinian officials responded with gunfire, wounding an 18-year-old.
The two sides have been clashing since last week, when Esh Kodesh settlers had said they would block Palestinians from working in fields near the outpost. Both sides claim ownership of the land.
A spokesman for the Israeli army confirmed claims on Friday, saying "we know of settlers damaging approximately 200 trees there."
Last October, according to the International Middle East Media Centre [IMEMC], Israeli settlers burnt down a whole orchard of olive trees in the same region, outside Nablus. Reports say these attacks also include picking, cutting, uprooting as well as burning down trees.
The UN claimed Israeli settlers were continuing attacks against Palestinian farmers, destroying over 7,500 trees throughout 2012.
Only one of the 162 complaints regarding settler attacks against Palestinian olive orchards has led to the indictment of a suspect since 2005, according to the Israeli non-governmental organisation Yesh Din.

Source: AFP