Israeli occupation forces (IOF) levelled on Monday evening Palestinian-owned agricultural lands and destroyed hundreds of olive trees in the al-Ras area in Salfit in the central West Bank.
Local sources affirmed that Israeli bulldozers uprooted around 250 olive trees aged 7 and 10 years old in al-Ras area under the pretext of being located in area C of the West Bank which is under full Israeli administrative and military control.
The IOF also razed large tracts of land and demolished several retaining walls in the area.
Under the protection of the IOF Israeli settlers commit violent daily attacks against Palestinian villages and farmers harvesting their olive trees during the olive harvest season.
The attacks which include beating farmers and destroying trees preceded the formal start of the olive harvest season on October 12 in the occupied West Bank but intensified in number over the past week.
Harvesting olive trees is a key economic familial and social activity for many Palestinians who take days off work to tend to their lands or those of their relatives neighbors or friends. Around 80000 to 100000 families rely on olives and olive oil as primary or secondary sources of income.
