On Monday, Israeli occupation forces uprooted dozens of Palestinian olive trees in Al-Minya village, east of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.
Zayed Kawazba, the head of the Al-Minya Village Council, stated that the soldiers invaded Palestinian lands before invading olive orchards.
Kawazba added that the soldiers uprooted approximately 150 olive trees in the Al-Baq’a area, west of the village, along the main road connecting Bethlehem to its eastern countryside.
The residents of Al-Minya village face constant violations by Israeli soldiers and paramilitary colonizers, as part of Israel’s illegal policies aimed at displacing them from their lands.
The village’s lands extend to the Al-Minya wilderness, reaching the Dead Sea, covering tens of thousands of dunams. Recently, these lands have become a target for colonizers attempting to carve out a colonial road that would isolate the village from its surroundings and serve to connect settlements.
Since October 7, 2023, the occupation authorities have closed all entrances to the village, making access to their agricultural lands or grazing areas nearly impossible.
A report by the Wall & Colonization Resistance Commission revealed that the Israeli occupation army and colonizers carried out 407 attacks during the last olive harvest season, resulting in the destruction of 3,910 olive trees. The same period recorded 29 incidents of tree cutting and breaking, and 15 cases of theft of agricultural equipment.
All of Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention in addition to various United Nations and Security Council resolutions. They also constitute war crimes under International Law.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” It also prohibits the “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory”.
