Smotrich announces uprooting of 3,000 trees planted by Palestinians in northern West Bank |
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that Israel uprooted some 3,000 trees planted by Palestinians in the northern West Bank, which he said were located on state land.
“We are building the Land of Israel and destroying the idea of a Palestinian state,” said Smotrich, repeating a phrase he is fond of using. He said the trees had been planted illegally and that the action aimed to “prevent attempts by the Palestinian Authority to establish facts on the ground.”
Smotrich also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry, overseeing civilian matters in the West Bank. The trees’ removal was carried out by the Civil Administration, a branch of the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator for Government Affairs in the Territories (COGAT), which is in charge of the territory’s civilian affairs.
The uprooting was the latest in a series of actions by Israeli government bodies to destroy trees in the West Bank, in part to make room for settlement expansion. The initiative has also come amid intensifying violence by settlers, including attacks targeting Palestinian agricultural activity.
The trees were planted on some 50 acres of land close to the Shahak Industrial Park near the Shaked settlement. Although Smotrich’s statement didn’t specify which trees were uprooted, it appeared from pictures sent by his office that they were olive trees.
Smotrich said the trees were planted within the boundaries of the zoning masterplan for Shahak and that removing them would enable the further expansion of the industrial park together with the establishment of a new settlement, in accordance with policies the government has already approved.
State land is not privately owned and is available for the government to allocate for the public benefit, including through the construction of residential homes and infrastructure, as well as economic and agricultural activity.
Virtually all of the state land that Israel has allocated for use has been given to the needs of Israeli settlements, according to information........