By Aysar Alais
ISTANBUL (AA) - The Israeli military campaign has resulted in the destruction of over 75% of olive trees in Gaza, a new report revealed on Saturday.
The report, compiled by the National Office for the Defense of Land and Resistance to Settlement, affiliated with the Palestine Liberation Organization, said “the war has had a destructive impact on the olive sector, annihilating more than 75% of olive trees in the region." Israel has continued its air and ground attacks in the Palestinian enclave since the cross-border incursion by Hamas last October.
It said that residents of Gaza could only access their fields during a temporary cease-fire, which lasted just a week last November, allowing them to harvest olives from areas that had not yet been subjected to Israeli uprooting and destruction.
The publication said that in the occupied West Bank, Israeli authorities revoked all permits granted to farmers for olive picking, effectively preventing them from accessing their lands.
It also pointed out various practices by illegal settlers aimed at obstructing Palestinians from harvesting olives.
Estimates indicate that approximately 23,700 acres of olive-planted land in the occupied West Bank has been declared closed military zones by the Israeli authorities.
Olive is a major agricultural crop in Palestine and has been cultivated for thousands of years. Olive trees are also a symbol of Palestinian rootedness in their land.
*Writing by Ikram Kouachi