JERUSALEM, October 3, 2026 (WAFA) — Israeli colonists today burned around 55 olive trees, each more than 40 years old, on the land of Palestinian citizen Ibrahim Abu Helal in the wilderness of Wadi Abu Dis, southeast of occupied Jerusalem.
The attack occurred as Abu Helal was picking olives with his wife, children and grandchildren on their approximately 14-dunam plot. Colonists who came from a nearby colonial outpost attacked the family and attempted to assault them, forcing them to withdraw for their safety.
The family later returned to the land, where the colonists set fire to the olive trees, as well as harvesting tools and olive produce the family had collected.
On August 27, Israeli authorities declared 370.28 dunams of land belonging to Abu Dis and Arab al-Sawahra as “state property,” as part of measures to advance the establishment of the Mishmar Yehuda colony.
The burning of Abu Helal's olive trees comes amid an escalation in colonist attacks on Palestinian farmers and agricultural lands across the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, during the olive harvest season.
M.N
