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Israeli forces uprooted about 400 olive trees and bulldozed 31 dunams (3.1 hectares) of Palestinian-owned land on Thursday in Beit Rima, northwestern Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, according to Anadolu Agency.
Bulldozers cleared the land two days after Israeli authorities issued a military order targeting two areas in the town. The order called for the “removal of wild vegetation and the uprooting of olive and other trees”.
The operation came as Palestinians prepare for the olive harvest, which usually begins in October. Olive cultivation is a major source of income for thousands of Palestinian families and is closely tied to the region’s agricultural heritage.
Military orders target Palestinian land
The Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said Israeli authorities had issued five military orders targeting 533.5 dunams of land in the Jenin, Ramallah and Al-Bireh governorates.
According to commission data, Israel has issued 51 orders since the beginning of 2026 through September 22 to remove trees and vegetation in the occupied West Bank, affecting 2,093 dunams of land.
Afrah Qadura, 65, a resident of Beit Rima, said residents learned of the order two days before the operation and saw a map at the municipality showing the targeted areas. Landowners were given 12 hours to remove the trees before the army carried out the order, he said.
“How can we remove trees planted by our fathers and uproot them with our own hands?” Qadura said.
Families pledge to replant trees
Qadura said the trees had been planted over several decades, beginning in the late 1960s and continuing through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Some of those uprooted had been highly productive for years, he added.
“We are proud of those trees like our children,” Qadura said, describing the years he and his father had spent planting, watering and caring for them. He said losing the trees was like losing one of his children.
Despite the destruction, Qadura said his family would remain on its land and replant the uprooted trees. “We will continue planting trees like my father did, and our children will continue after us,” he said.
Abdul Rahman al-Rimawi, mayor of Bani Zeid al-Gharbia, which includes Beit Rima, said residents were surprised when army bulldozers began uprooting mature olive trees across the 31-dunam area.
He said some trees were “hundreds of years old” and that their removal threatened the livelihoods of families dependent on olive cultivation. Al-Rimawi called the operation part of “arbitrary Israeli practices against people, trees and stones”.
Al-Rimawi urged international institutions and other relevant parties to intervene to stop the tree removal. He said Israeli authorities had not explained the grounds for carrying out the order and described the operation as part of practices affecting Palestinians across the occupied West Bank.
