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Israeli forces uproot dozens of olive trees in occupied West Bank

"An Israeli force and bulldozers stormed our land and chopped down olive trees planted 10 years ago," Mohammad al-Deik -- a Palestinian farmer from Kafr al-Dik village located in the western region of Salfit city in the northern West Bank -- told Turkey's state-run news agency on Wednesday.

Anadolu Agency WORLD
Published June 09,2021
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Palestinian woman throws her arms up in the air in despair next to one of her olive trees uprooted by Israeli forces in West Bank [EPA]

Israeli forces on Wednesday destroyed some 150 olive trees in the occupied West Bank, according to a Palestinian farmer.

"An Israeli force and bulldozers stormed our land and chopped down olive trees planted 10 years ago," Mohammad al-Deik from Kafr al-Dik village, west of Salfit city in the northern West Bank, told Anadolu Agency.

He said the Israeli army claimed that the trees were planted on a nature reserve.

"They prevent us from planting our own land, while bulldozers uproot the trees and construct settlements instead of them," al-Deik said.

According to Israeli and Palestinian figures, around 650,000 Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in 164 settlements and 116 settlement-outposts.

International law regards both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied territories and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity there illegal.