Jewish settlers on Tuesday stole large quantities of olives from a Palestinian grove in Sebastia town northwest of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
Sebastia mayor Mohamed Azem said that during the first day of their access to their lands near the illegal settlement of Shavei Shomron local farmer Majd Shehadeh was surprised to see that 18 dunums of his olive grove had been stolen.
In recent days illegal settlers also stole olives from Palestinian groves in Khirbet Yanun hamlet in the town of Aqraba south of Nablus.
Two days ago farmers of Deir al-Hatab village east of Nablus fended off a horde of illegal settlers after they attacked them while picking olives on their own lands near the illegal settlement of Elon Moreh.
Since the current olive harvest season began settlers have destroyed and burned dozens of olive trees across the West Bank.
The dispossession and violence that mark Israel’s policy in the West Bank peak during the olive harvest when Palestinians need to access their land to pick olives off their trees according to human rights group B’Tselem.
Every year B’Tselem documents dozens of incidents in which settlers assault Palestinian farmers steal olives and vandalize trees farming equipment and work tools.
Such settler crimes happen under the noses of soldiers who are always present in nearby areas escorting the assailants or watching them from a distance.
