On Monday, illegal paramilitary Israeli colonizers attacked agricultural lands and burnt trees, in the town of Atara, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank’s central part.
Local sources reported that the colonizers came from a nearby newly established illegal colonialist outpost on stolen Palestinian lands.
They added that the colonizers set fire to olive trees and cultivated plots and caused extensive damage.
The assailants also invaded the property of farmer Jawad Sarahna, stealing agricultural equipment and wood before withdrawing from the area.
The incident in Atara reflects a broader pattern of systematic violence targeting Palestinian farmers, their land, and their livelihoods.
The burning of olive groves—symbols of resilience and rootedness—alongside the theft of essential tools forms part of a campaign designed to weaken Palestinian presence and expand colonial outposts.
The Wall & Colonization Resistance Commission has reported that Israeli forces and colonizers carried out 2,350 attacks in October alone.
Of these, the Israeli army was responsible for 1,584 assaults, while colonizers committed 766. The highest concentration of attacks occurred in Ramallah and al-Bireh (542), Nablus (412), and Hebron (401).
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 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits collective punishment and acts of terror against civilian populations.
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”.
Articles 53 and 147, prohibit the destruction of civilian property and classify pillage as a war crime.
