By Qais Abu Samra
NABLUS, Palestine (AA) – Palestinian farmers have accused Israeli settlers of stealing their olive crops in the occupied West Bank.
Nour Rashid, a farmer in Salem village, east of Nablus city, said Israeli forces allowed Palestinian farmers to access their farmlands near Israeli settlements to harvest their olive trees.
“But we found that our olives were stolen by the settlers,” he told Anadolu Agency on Monday.
Rashid said he owns 60 dunums (15 acres) of land cultivated with olive trees near the Elon Moreh settlement.
“All my olive crops were looted and the settlers are the only suspect,” he said.
The Israeli side has yet to comment on Rashid's claims.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army prevents Palestinian farmers from reaching their farmlands near Israeli settlements to harvest their crops without a prior coordination.
Palestinian farmers complain of rising settler attacks, especially in the areas adjacent to Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Israeli and Palestinian estimates indicate that there are about 650,000 settlers in West Bank settlements, including occupied Jerusalem, who live in 164 settlements and 116 outposts.
International law regards both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied territories and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity there illegal.
Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara