Successive Israeli attacks on the occupied West Bank have caused over $3 million worth of losses to the agricultural sector, the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture reported on Friday.
The report from the ministry states that between 1 and 8 October, there was a marked surge in attacks on the Palestinian agricultural sector.
The attacks include the uprooting, burning, and destruction of trees as well as stealing crops, targeting agricultural facilities and water sources, and bulldozing land.
Many Palestinian farmers have also been prevented from accessing their land, while settlers construct roads and expand outposts which encroach on the land and homes of residents.
A spokesperson for the ministry said their teams have documented agricultural losses worth around $3,678,000, spanning various areas, noting that areas of Jenin and the northern West Bank had suffered the most damage.
“Israeli attacks are no longer limited to isolated incidents, but have now include field attacks, official measures, and settlement expansion,” the spokesperson said.
“What is happening to the Palestinian agricultural sector represents a continuous targeting of the foundations of production, food security, and the resilience of farmers,” the ministry said in a statement.
According to figures released by the ministry, during the attacks, agricultural losses in Jenin had amounted to $2.63 million, followed by Ramallah, and then Hebron.
The Ministry of Agriculture called on UN institutions, rights groups and the international community to take action and provide Palestinian farmers and their land with protection.
The developments come as the Palestinian olive harvesting season commenced in October, and has since seen dozens of Israeli army and settler attacks targeting farmers.
Every year, settlers steal crops and damage olive trees, some of which are hundreds of years old and are a key part of Palestinian identity as well as provide income for families.
The Palestinian Authority’s Commission against the Wall and Settlements announced that over 45,000 trees have been cut down or damaged in the occupied West Bank in the first half of this year, including more than 26,000 olive trees.
Despite initiatives such as the 2026 Olive Harvest Campaign introduced by the Ministry of Agriculture, and support from activists, Israeli attacks have continued.
On Saturday, ten Palestinians, including journalists, were wounded by rubber-coated metal bullets, and dozens suffered from tear gas inhalation during an attack carried out by settlers and Israeli forces in Deir Abu Mash’al, located west of Ramallah.
Jamil Atta, the head of the town’s village council, told The New Arab that “farmers were accompanied by foreign solidarity activists, they went to their land to pick olives in the southern area of Deir Abu Mash’al village, but settlers attacked them and called on Israeli forces, who then opened fire and used tear gas to assault people and expel them from the area”.
Hassan Mleihat, a supervisor at the al-Baydar human rights organisation, also told The New Arab that in recent weeks, dozens of Palestinian farmers were stranded at the gates to their land in Qalqilya after Israeli forces closed them.
He noted that settlers carried out attacks while under the protection of Israeli forces.
Official Palestinian figures state there are around 750,000 settlers residing in around 194 settlements and 400 outposts in the occupied West Bank.
