UN says Israeli settlers cut down olive trees amid 'war-like' West Bank campaign

By Emma Farge

The United Nations humanitarian office accused Israel on Friday of using "war-like" tactics against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, citing killings by soldiers and attacks on Palestinian olive groves by Israeli settlers.

This month so far, OCHA has received reports that settlers have carried out 32 attacks against Palestinians and their properties, including on their slow-growing olive trees, OCHA said. The latest was a woman killed while harvesting her olives in Jenin on Thursday, the agency said.

"It is, frankly, very concerning that it's not only attacks on people, but it's attacks on their olive groves as well," OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said at a Geneva press briefing. "The olive harvest is an economic lifeline for tens of thousands of Palestinian families in the West Bank," he added, saying that U.N. agencies were assessing how they can support them.

In total, around 600 mainly olive trees have been burnt, vandalised or stolen by settlers, the agency said in a report that showed a Palestinian man standing next to a olive tree stump with its branches sawn off.

Dozens of Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian street attacks over the past year. Israel says its actions in the West Bank have been in response to what it has described as a drastic increase in such incidents.

The Israeli mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Violence has surged in the West Bank since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct.7 last year that triggered Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip. OCHA says nine Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces there between Oct. 8-14, including one child.

"Israeli forces have been using lethal, war-like tactics in the West Bank, raising serious concerns over excessive use of force and deepening people's humanitarian needs," said Laerke.

He added that Israeli forces had accused most of those killed of being involved in attacking Israelis.

Earlier this month, the World Food Programme said that violence and the spillover effect of the Gaza war had nearly doubled the number of people facing food insecurity in the West Bank to 600,000 people.

Settler violence is a source of growing concern among Israel's Western allies. A number of countries, including the United States, have imposed sanctions on violent settlers and urged Israel to do more to stop the violence.