Israeli bulldozers have uprooted hundreds of trees in the village of Mughayer, located northeast of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, all while under the watchful eye of the Israeli military.
Olive groves have long been a vital component of the West Bank’s economy and heritage, serving as a longstanding backdrop for violent confrontations between Palestinian farmers and Israeli settlers.
Local farmer Abdul Latif Muhammad Abu Aliya reported losing nearly 70-year-old olive trees on around ten dunams of his land.
He expressed, “They completely uprooted them and flattened the ground under flimsy pretenses,” adding that he has begun replanting trees along with other residents.
AFP photographers at the site reported stripped soil and fallen olive trees as several bulldozers operated in the hills surrounding the village.
One of the bulldozers was seen bearing the Israeli flag, and military vehicles were also spotted in the area.
Gassan Abu Aliya, head of a local agricultural association, stated, “The aim is control and to force people to leave. This is only the beginning, and it will expand to encompass the entire West Bank.”
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club reported that “Israeli occupation forces, over three consecutive days of aggression against the town of Mughayer northeast of Ramallah and Al-Bireh, conducted a widespread arrest campaign that targeted 14 citizens, including the village council head, Amin Abu Aliya.”
The report further indicated that Israeli forces “conducted field interrogations with dozens of citizens, including entire families with women and children among them.”
Among the detainees were the brothers of the martyr Hamdi Abu Aliya. On August 16, the Palestinian Authority announced that an 18-year-old named Hamdi Abu Aliya had been killed by Israeli soldiers in the same village.
In a statement released on Friday, the military announced the arrest of a man from Mughayer, accusing him of responsibility for a “terrorist attack” that occurred in the area. Violence has escalated in the occupied West Bank since the outbreak of war in Gaza following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Since that time, at least 971 Palestinians, including both militants and civilians, have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers in the West Bank.