Israeli forces uproot hundreds of olive trees in West Bank village

Palestinian olive trees cut down by Israeli settlers in October 2013

The Palestine Chronicle reports on 21 July 2020:

Israeli forces uprooted this morning over 200 olive trees in the Palestinian village of Deir Istiya, near the West Bank city of Salfit, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Local sources told WAFA that Israeli soldiers uprooted 220 trees that were planted on 12 dunums of land owned by a local resident and located in Area C, which is under full Israeli army rule.  The owner and residents were not allowed to reach the area during the army uprooting of the trees, said the sources.

“For Masafer Yatta, and those living in ‘Area C’, however, the degree of control is so suffocating that every aspect of Palestinian life – freedom of movement, education, access to clean water, and so on – is controlled by a complex system of Israeli military ordinances that have no regard whatsoever for the well-being of the beleaguered communities,” Palestinian journalist and editor of The Palestine Chronicle Ramzy Baroud wrote in a recent article.

“All Palestinians in ‘Area C’ and the larger West Bank, feel neglected – and outright betrayed – by the international community as well as their own quisling leadership,” Baroud added.

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