BETHLEHEM, Tuesday, October 13, 2020 (WAFA) – Israeli settlers stole the olive crops in al-Jabaa village land, southwest of the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, and cut branches of trees, today said the head of al-Jabaa village council Diab Mashaleh.

He told WAFA that al-Jabaa villagers discovered when they reached their land that settlers from the illegal Beit Ain settlement have stolen their crops from about 100 dunums of land owned by some 30 people and that the settlers have also chopped branches of the trees.

He said the landowners have been trying to reach their lands for a while but that the army prevented them from getting there telling them that they should obtain a special permit first from the Israeli military government.

When the farmers finally were able to reach their lands after getting army permission, they discovered the theft of their crops and the vandalism of the trees.

Nevertheless, said the village mayor, and despite having a permit from the Israeli army to reach their lands, settlers attacked the farmers and forced them to leave the area under the threat of weapons.

Mashaleh said this scene is repeated every year during the olive harvest season and that the army always gives cover to the settlers’ theft of the crops and attacks against the Palestinian farmers.

M.K.