West bank: Israeli occupation forces uprooted hundreds of olive trees on Tuesday across several areas and villages in the occupied West Bank. Israeli occupation forces uprooted hundreds of olive trees and issued stop-work orders for 20 homes in the town of Tuqu’, southeast of Bethlehem, on Tuesday.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA, Tuqu’ Mayor Mohammad al-Badan reported that an Israeli army force, accompanied by military vehicles, positioned itself along the western entrance to the town and began uprooting hundreds of olive trees. This took place along a stretch of approximately 1,500 meters and to a depth of nearly 8 meters, under the pretext of “security reasons.”
Al-Badan added that the occupation forces stormed the al-Halqum neighborhood west of the town and delivered stop-work orders to the owners of 20 homes, even though these homes have been standing for years and are inhabited. He pointed out that these orders are part of a policy of restricting residents and preventing them from expanding or building in the future, as they are forced to appeal to Israeli courts.
Al-Badan explained that about 70% of the lands of the town of Tuqu’ are classified as Area C, and that the occupation continues to tighten its measures against the residents by closing roads with iron gates, seizing large areas of land, and preventing construction and urban expansion in them, even though they are private lands owned by citizens.
Meanwhile, the occupation forces uprooted trees in the village of Kafr Malik, northeast of Ramallah. Local sources reported that the occupation forces stormed the village with a bulldozer and began razing land and uprooting trees across an area of 35 dunams (approximately 15 acres).
About a week ago, the occupation authorities issued a military order to remove a grove of trees, including olive trees, covering the aforementioned area of village land. The sources indicated that more than 10 families will be affected by this measure, which targets agricultural land and the rights of its owners.
In Hebron, colonists uprooted 500 trees in Khirbet Wadi al-Rakhim, near the town of Yatta, south of Hebron, and vandalized Palestinian property. Anti-settlement activist Osama Makhameh reported to WAFA that armed colonists from the Susya colony, built on Palestinian land and property south of Hebron, uprooted and destroyed 500 olive, fig, almond, and other trees belonging to members of the Rumi family in the al-Farsh area of Khirbet Wadi al-Rakhim, south of Yatta.
Makhameh added that the colonists also destroyed the fence surrounding the land, damaged property and belongings in the home of Mohammad Rumi, and smashed windows in the home of Rasmi Shriteh. They also spray-painted slogans on the walls of houses, cut a fence surrounding the land of local resident Ayed Abu Murir in the Wadi Abu Shaban area, east of Yatta, and released their livestock into the agricultural crops.
