RAMALLAH, October 30, 2025 (WAFA) – The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ) reported that Israeli authorities are preventing Palestinian landowners from accessing and harvesting olives from more than 25,000 dunams of land planted with olive trees near settlements and outposts across the West Bank.
In a report released Thursday, ARIJ said that its analysis revealed 96 Israeli military orders targeting over 25,000 dunams of olive groves, with the Jenin, Jerusalem, Qalqilya, and Ramallah governorates being the most heavily affected.
The report also noted that since the beginning of the year, ARIJ has documented over 3,100 attacks by colonists against Palestinians, their property, agricultural lands, and natural resources, causing significant damage. The report also revealed that the institute documented the uprooting, destruction, and burning of approximately 13,000 trees since the beginning of this year by colonists and Israeli forces. Most of these trees were olive trees located in various governorates of the West Bank.
The report further affirmed that Israeli authorities continue to issue military orders, year after year, preventing Palestinians from accessing their olive groves, particularly those located on or near settlements or outposts. This is a recurring policy aimed at the gradual seizure of Palestinian land, starting with temporary restrictions and gradually progressing to permanent bans.
The institute noted that the Israeli orders do not include the isolated lands west of the separation wall, which have become virtually cut off from their owners. This exacerbates the suffering of farmers and limits their ability to benefit from their land and earn their annual living from olive sales. The authorities target Palestinian landowners by reducing the number of permits granted to them to access their lands (west of the wall).
It further emphasized that Israeli military orders constitute one of the most prominent colonial tools used by the Israeli authorities to seize Palestinian land, particularly in Area C of the West Bank, which remains under full Israeli security and administrative control.
The institute added that these practices contravene international humanitarian law and the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from seizing private land or making any permanent changes in occupied territory. Furthermore, the establishment of settlements and the transfer of the occupying power's population to occupied territory constitute a clear violation of Article 49 of the same Convention and a breach of Security Council resolutions, particularly Resolution 2334 (2016), which affirms the illegality of settlements in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967.
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