DaysofPal- Israeli violations against the Palestinian agricultural sector caused losses exceeding $700,000 over the past week, according to a report issued by the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture.
The ministry said damages recorded between January 29 and February 5 totaled $705,648, resulting from attacks by Israeli forces and settlers on farmland, farmers, and agricultural infrastructure.
According to the report, agriculture in the occupied West Bank continues to be heavily affected by Israeli policies, with repeated incidents targeting cultivated land, farmers, and fruit-bearing trees, particularly olive groves.
The ministry described these attacks as part of an ongoing struggle threatening the livelihoods and resilience of Palestinian farming communities.
The weekly assessment comes amid an escalation in settlement activity, which the ministry said is being driven by rapid Israeli government decisions aimed at expanding control over Palestinian agricultural land and reshaping the demographic and geographic landscape of the West Bank.
The report said Israel has pursued these goals through measures such as reclassifying agricultural land, legalizing settlement outposts, especially so-called pastoral outposts, and restricting Palestinian access to farmland and grazing areas.
Data cited in the report indicate a broader push to accelerate settlement expansion as a means of consolidating territorial control, which the ministry described as amounting to de facto annexation at the expense of Palestinian agricultural presence.
The ministry noted that Israeli occupation forces have recently designated more than 26,000 dunams of West Bank land as state land, a legal classification that Palestinians say is used to remove them from their agricultural property.
At the same time, the Israeli occupation has announced plans to legalize 140 settlement farms, amid a reported rise in settler attacks on Palestinian farmers and their property.
Violations documented during the reporting period included the uprooting and destruction of fruit trees, damage to agricultural facilities, and attacks on water infrastructure such as storage tanks, irrigation systems, and farming shelters.
The report also recorded restrictions on farmers’ access to their land, physical assaults, threats, arrests, and the theft of livestock, farming equipment, and agricultural vehicles.
Hebron governorate was identified as the hardest-hit area, with losses in the Masafer Yatta region alone estimated at $618,142.
The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture called on the international community, human rights organizations, and humanitarian and agricultural institutions to provide urgent protection for Palestinian farmers.
It also urged increased support for agricultural recovery and resilience programs, protection of natural resources, improved documentation of violations, and stronger international advocacy efforts.
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