For Palestinian farmers, the olive harvest is more than an agricultural season. It is a time deeply connected to family, tradition, and a livelihood passed down through generations. But just days before this year’s harvest is expected to begin, Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank have watched their olive trees being uprooted by Israeli military bulldozers.
Olive trees uprooted in Deir Nizam
On Wednesday, Israeli military forces uprooted Palestinian-owned olive trees in the village of Deir Nizam, northwest of Ramallah, using bulldozers. The destruction came just days before the annual olive harvest, which traditionally begins in the first week of October.
According to WAFA, Israeli occupation authorities had issued a military order on Monday calling for the removal of wild vegetation and the uprooting of olive and other trees across approximately 99.79 dunams of land belonging to Deir Nizam.
As the trees were destroyed, Palestinian villagers watched and mourned the remains of trees that had provided food and income for their families.
Farmers describe watching their trees being destroyed
Abd Alfattah Tamimi, who owns an olive grove near Ramallah, told Reuters that he watched a military bulldozer smash the top of one of his trees before pulling it out by its roots.
“All our olive trees, including the newly planted ones, were uprooted. Also our neighbours’, they uprooted them all. They left us with nothing,” he said.
Another landowner, Nather Tamimi, said the timing made the destruction particularly painful, coming so close to the start of the harvest.
“They uprooted trees everywhere, even between the houses,” he told Reuters.
A major source of Palestinian livelihoods
Olive trees are deeply woven into Palestinian agricultural life, with the harvest providing income for thousands of families through the production and sale of olives and olive oil.
For farmers like the Tamimis, the loss is therefore not simply about the trees themselves. It means losing a harvest they had spent months preparing for, income that supports their families, and trees that can take years to grow and produce again.
Damage to olive trees has also been significant beyond Deir Nizam. According to the Palestinian Authority’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, attacks on agricultural land during August affected 21,508 trees, including 19,375 olive trees.
Israel’s reason for clearing land
Israeli authorities and military forces have previously cited security concerns as a reason for clearing land and removing olive trees, including claims that trees could provide cover for attacks or ambushes against troops.
Palestinian human rights groups reject this justification, arguing that the destruction of agricultural land and trees deprives farmers of an important source of income while damaging trees that hold deep cultural and historical significance for Palestinians.
The harvest was just days away
With the Palestinian olive harvest traditionally beginning in early October, the uprooting in Deir Nizam comes at a particularly significant moment.
For generations of Palestinian families, harvest season has brought relatives together to pick olives, share meals and turn the year’s crop into olive oil. This year, some farmers will instead be looking at empty patches of land where their trees once stood.
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