Occupation bulldozes agricultural lands and uproots ancient trees east of Ramallah

Occupation military vehicles, today, Thursday, carried out widespread bulldozing operations targeting citizens' lands in the village of Ain Yabroud, located east of Ramallah city. Local sources reported that a military force supported by a heavy bulldozer stormed the eastern area of the village, and began destroying vast agricultural areas located near bypass road No. '60'.

Activist Jihad Al-Qaq confirmed that the bulldozing operations affected about 20 dunams of land owned by the villagers, where the occupation forces deliberately uprooted and destroyed dozens of ancient olive trees. Al-Qaq explained that these practices directly aim to prevent Palestinian farmers from accessing their fields, which threatens their primary source of livelihood and serves the expansionist plans in the region.

These attacks come in the context of a comprehensive Israeli escalation against Palestinian land, as official reports issued by the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission revealed shocking figures related to last month's violations. The commission recorded more than 1965 attacks during February, ranging from physical assaults to vandalism of property and agricultural facilities in various governorates of the West Bank.

In details of settler terrorism, statistics indicated that settlers alone carried out about 355 acts of sabotage and theft, resulting in the destruction, uprooting, and poisoning of more than 1300 trees, the vast majority of which were olive trees. These figures reflect a systematic war targeting trees and stones to displace Palestinians from their lands and facilitate their control for the benefit of settlements.

Ramallah governorate topped the list of areas most affected by these attacks, as the governorate lost 731 trees as a result of the attacks by the occupation and its settlers, followed by Bethlehem, Hebron, and Nablus governorates. The occupation authorities continue to impose military closures on large areas under the pretext of security reasons, a policy that essentially aims to provide the necessary cover for the expansion of the settlement project at the expense of Palestinian rights.

The occupation seeks, through bulldozing operations in the eastern area of Ain Yabroud village, to deprive farmers of access to and exploitation of their lands.