Settlers Burn Palestinian Olive Groves

Settlers Burn Palestinian Olive Groves Israeli Army Declares Closed Military Zone Internationals and Palestinians Threatened, Refuse to Leave

At approximately 8:00AM, Palestinians and international human rights activists attempted to enter Palestinian-owned land in Awarta, South East of Nablus, in order to harvest the olives.

Illegal settlers from Itamar Settlement are being protected by the Israeli Army as they burn an unknown number of Palestinian olive trees. Palestinians refused to sell their olives to the settlers, who then began to burn the trees in retaliation.

The Army has declared the area a closed military zone and has ordered Israelis and internationals to leave. They refuse to do so.

At the time of this report, internationals and Palestinians are attempting to near Awarta to document the burning of olive trees and assist the Palestinian farmers. In the process of attempting to hail a cab, the Israeli police detained and fined a Palestinian cabdriver 500NIS for stopping to pick up internationals.

International activists from Nablus are also en route to Awarta at this time, 10:15AM.

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