Israel uproots hundreds of West Bank olive trees amid fears of wider destruction
Israeli forces bulldozed hundreds of olive trees in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, with dozens more dunams of agricultural land at risk of further destruction in the coming days.
The large-scale operation took place in the village of Zububa, near Jenin, close to the separation wall that divides the occupied West Bank from Israel.
According to Zaki Jaradat, head of the Zububa Village Council, at least 500 olive trees across 50 dunams of land were uprooted on Sunday, less than three months before the annual harvest.
The olive harvest is a vital source of income for tens of thousands of Palestinian families across the West Bank, providing an economic lifeline for many communities.
Jaradat said further bulldozing is expected in the coming days, with around 120 dunams of olive groves in the area at risk of being razed.
"The olive harvest is over for us," Mahmoud Jaradat, one of the affected landowners, told Middle East Eye.
'All my hard work and years of toil vanished in a single moment'
- Mahmoud Jaradat, Zububa resident
"I had dozens of trees, and now they've all been bulldozed and uprooted," he said.
"I'll have to buy olive oil instead of selling it this year."
Residents had previously been told by the army that the land would be cleared to create a security "buffer zone" along the separation wall, much of which runs through land belonging to the village.
The affected area contains around 2,000 olive trees. Their owners had been preparing for the October harvest but are now facing the prospect of losing much of this year's crop.
"All my hard work and years of toil vanished in a single moment," Mahmoud said.
"What can I say? I have no words in the face of this heartbreaking scene."
Expanded bulldozing
Israeli forces have been bulldozing land adjacent to the separation wall for months.
According to Zaki Jaradat, five dunams were razed around five months ago, followed by another 60 dunams two months later. Last month, the army issued notices informing residents that olive trees across a further 127 dunams would be uprooted.
Residents were nonetheless shocked on Sunday when the bulldozing extended beyond the designated areas and reached land close to their homes.
"They told us they would bulldoze 127 dunams, but from what we see now, what they will bulldoze will exceed 250 dunams from all directions, all under the pretext of security," Zaki told MEE.
Zububa once covered around 14,000 dunams. Since the 1948 Nakba and Israel's occupation of the West Bank in 1967, however, the village has steadily lost large swathes of its land.
Today, Palestinians can access only around 1,500 dunams. The remainder lies beyond the West Bank boundary or has been confiscated for the construction of the separation wall.
The village is routinely subjected to collective punishment measures by the Israeli military, including the closure of its entrances with earth mounds, restrictions on movement, near-daily raids on homes and repeated arrests.
On Sunday evening, the Israeli army distributed leaflets warning residents, particularly young people, not to approach the separation wall or the adjacent security fence. The notices warned that any such actions could result in consequences for the entire village.
According to the Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission, Israel has uprooted, damaged or poisoned at least 120,000 trees across the occupied West Bank since 2020.
The commission's data shows that attacks on olive trees have intensified in recent years. In 2024, 14,212 trees were uprooted, including 10,459 olive trees. That figure more than doubled in 2025, when 35,273 trees were uprooted or damaged, including 26,988 olive trees.
During the first five months of 2026, more than 10,000 trees were uprooted, including 6,700 olive trees. Of those, 4,414 were uprooted in April alone, while a further 1,114 trees were damaged, uprooted, burned or poisoned in May.
This article was sourced from Middle East Eye.
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