The Israeli Occupation Authorities issue orders to Deir Estia farmers to uproot their own olive trees
Salfir – Court injunctions have been issued to compel farmers to uproot their own olive trees from their lands in Deit Estia, west of Salfit.
Nathmi Salman, Deir Estia’s mayor, reported that: “the so-called nature conservation officer of the Israeli Civil Administration, accompanied by Israeli Occupation Army patrols, issued evacuation orders for a group of farmers in Wadi Qana area, northwest Deir Estia. The orders require uprooting 176 olive trees owned by Abdel Hamid Abdel Hadi Abu Hijleh, Ali Ahmed Hussein Mansour in addition to the brothers Qaseem, Naseem, and Abdullah Nasser Mohammed Mansour.”
However, the farmer Abdul Karim Mallouh stated that a staff of the Israeli Nature & National Parks Protection Authority of Civil Administration, accompanied by Israeli Occupation army troops, roamed between olive trees and put a warring on one of the trees owned by Abdel Hamid Abdel Hadi Abu Hijleh. The warning orders him to uproot 657 of his olive trees in “Al-Qasim area”, near Ain al-Bassa spring in Wadi Qana. Afterwards, the Nature conservation officer along with the Israeli Forces moved to Al-Tanour and Keffet Abu Naser areas to continue putting other evacuation warnings in agricultural lands owned by farmers from Deir Estia in Wadi Qana.
The mayor pointed out that the new orders come in the context of the “continuous” campaign waged by the Israeli Occupation Authorities against the olive tree. It is noteworthy that the same officer of the so-called Israeli Nature & National Parks Protection Authority put 10 evacuation orders requiring uprooting about 1400 olive trees in the Wadi, on 25/4/2012.
Salman mentioned that, in 2011, the Israeli Occupation Forces carried out uprooting operations for more than 1000 olive trees in the same area targeted by the colonization.