Israeli settler set fire to hundreds of olive trees in the West Bank

Hundreds of olive trees were destroyed after Israeli settlers set fire to large swathes of agricultural land in the Palestinian village of Duma, south of Nablus, according to officials cited by the Wafa news agency.

Head of the village council, Abdullah Ziyada, said settlers from the Yitzhar settlement set fire to fields along a bypass road.

Although local residents, with the help of civil defence crews, tried to contain the fires, their efforts were reportedly blocked by settlers and Israeli forces. Both groups obstructed Palestinians from accessing the village’s water well to refill their fire trucks. The water well is located near the al-Murabba checkpoint.

Olive trees are central to many Palestinian livelihoods and have been burned down by Israeli settlers many times.