[Friday, May 2, 2014] The Israeli army has decided to cut and uproot hundreds of Palestinian trees, near a bypass road used by Israeli settlers, close to Madama village, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.Palestinian official, Ghassan Daghlas, in charge of Israeli settlements file in the northern part of the West Bank, said the army has officially informed residents of its intention to uproot all trees planted on both sides of the Yitzhar-Madama road.
The army said the decision was motivated by security considerations, “to ensure protection for Jewish settlers” driving to and from their illegal settlements.
Daghlas added that the army marked the trees to be removed, and has already uprooted more than 52 olive trees overnight.
The official further stated that, should the decision be fully implemented, hundreds and even thousands of olive trees would be cut and uprooted.
It is worth mentioning that Israel has uprooted more than 800,000 olive trees since it illegally occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in 1967.
