RAMALLAH, January 12, 2026 (WAFA) – Ministry of Agriculture announced the findings of a comprehensive report documenting a dangerous and unprecedented escalation in the pace of systematic Israeli violations against the agricultural sector in the occupied West Bank during 2025.
The violations were carried out directly by the Israeli occupation army and colonists, posing an existential threat to Palestinian agriculture, delivering a direct blow to national food security, and deliberately targeting farmers’ livelihoods and their steadfastness on their land.
The report stated that the direct economic losses incurred by the agricultural sector in 2025 exceeded $103 million, in addition to far-reaching repercussions on agricultural production chains, declining rural incomes, rising food costs, increased poverty and unemployment rates, and deepening the vulnerability of farmers and rural households.
It affirmed that the incidents recorded throughout the year cannot be described as isolated cases or collateral damage, but rather constitute a systematic policy targeting land, water, and natural resources through direct assaults, land leveling, uprooting, burning, and preventing access to agricultural lands, under the protection of the occupation army and with the active participation of colonist groups.
The report further noted that the violations included colonial and urban expansion at the expense of agricultural land, the seizure of thousands of dunums, and the spread of 133 pastoral colonial outposts on the outskirts of Palestinian villages, a trend that is steadily heightening the risks facing the agricultural sector in the occupied West Bank.
The report documented attacks on agricultural water sources, including the demolition of wells and water-collection pools, the sabotage of irrigation networks, the seizure of springs, and the prevention of maintenance works, resulting in direct losses exceeding $1.58 million.
It also recorded damage to infrastructure, including agricultural roads, greenhouses, machinery, and equipment, valued at $2.57 million, which hindered farmers’ access to their lands and weakened production and marketing chains.
The olive sector was the most heavily targeted, with nearly 92,000 olive trees damaged across several West Bank governorates, including centuries-old trees, in an apparent attempt to undermine Palestinian agricultural production and erode long-standing cultural heritage.
Livestock was also severely affected, as 5,236 sheep were stolen and killed in the governorates of Jericho, Nablus, Ramallah and al-Bireh, and Hebron, resulting in direct losses estimated at $1.77 million and impacting hundreds of pastoral families.
The beekeeping sector was also targeted through the destruction of hives and the theft of equipment, particularly in Ramallah and al-Bireh, causing direct losses of approximately $154,000 and negatively affecting natural crop pollination.
The Ministry of Agriculture affirmed that these violations constitute an organized crime against the agricultural sector and amount to grave breaches of international humanitarian law, particularly the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit the targeting of civilian resources, livelihoods, and vital infrastructure of populations under occupation.
The ministry called on the international community, the United Nations and its specialized agencies, and the High Contracting Parties to assume their legal and moral responsibilities to protect Palestinian farmers, provide effective international protection for agricultural lands, water sources, and grazing areas, halt the systematic violations carried out by the occupation and colonists, and ensure accountability and an end to impunity, in addition to supporting aid and rehabilitation programs, with priority given to the olive, livestock, and water sectors.
T.R.
