NABLUS, October 28, 2017 (WAFA) – Israeli settlers Saturday stole olive harvest from lands belonging to the village of Awarta, to the east of the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, according to local sources.

Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement activities in the northern West Bank, told WAFA that settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement of Itamar stole the harvest from village land near the settlement.

He said 420 olive trees planted in that land that belonged to Awarta resident Ata Darwish were stripped of their produce.

He noted that rate of settlers’ theft  of Palestinian produce, including stealing olive harvest, has soared in recent years.

Last week, settlers stole the olive harvest in the village of al-Mughayyer, near the city of Ramallah, and the village of Burin, near the city of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinians look forward to the annual olive harvest season, which is a major income source for thousands of Palestinian families in the West Bank.

In addition to stealing olive harvest from farmers, many areas planted with olive trees are closed to farmers due to their proximity to Jewish settlements or fall behind the Israeli apartheid wall.

K.T./M.K.