SALFIT, Tuesday, October 13, 2020 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces today barred al-Zawiyeh municipality in the north of the West Bank from refurbishing a rural road intended to facilitate movement of farmers during the olive harvest season, according to local sources.

They said that Israeli forces impounded a road grader owned by the municipality that was working on flattening the road leading to the olive groves west of the town, and briefly detained the town’s mayor Mahmoud Mawqadi, who was supervising the work, and the grader driver.

This came in parallel with a surge in Israeli forces and settlers’ attacks against Palestinian olive harvesters across the West Bank.

With more than 12 million olive trees planted across 45% of the West Bank’s agricultural land, the olive harvest constitutes one of the biggest sources of economic sustainability for thousands of Palestinian families.

K.F./M.K.