NGO: Settlers destroyed 2,600 olive trees in October

The Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees released a report on Tuesday which found that over 2,600 olive trees were destroyed by settlers in October. The report by the Gaza-based NGO issued findings on settler violence and attacks against Palestinian agriculture in October. According to the report, 55 attacks took place across 37 villages and in eight cities. Over 53 percent of settler attacks took place in the Nablus district. Over 1,640 dunams of land were burnt and 500 dunams confiscated across the West Bank, the report found. Of the total amount of olive trees destroyed, over 1,500 were set on fire. The destruction of 2,602 olive trees amounts to a monetary loss of around $150,000, the report said. Thirteen farmers were also injured in Nablus as a result of settler attacks. Last week, the Palestinian Authority criticized Israeli settlers' ongoing assaults on Palestinians harvesting olives in Qalqiliya, Nablus, Salfit and Ramallah, and said settlers shot at villagers harvesting olives in Jaloud near Nablus, injuring four including a 12-year-old boy. "Israeli violations against Palestinians and their property and livelihood continue to increase with little or no action by the Israeli authorities to hold people to account under the rule of law," a statement said. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs reported that over 2,500 olive trees were destroyed in September, and 7,500 this year. Since 1967, 800,000 olive trees have been uprooted resulting in a loss of around $55 million to the Palestinian economy, according to a report by the Palestinian Authority Ministry of National Economy and the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem.