2025-05-14
The Occupation Cut Down 34 Old Olive Trees in Madama Village / South Nablus
Violation: Cutting olive trees.
Location: Madama Village, south Nablus.
Date: May,14th 2025.
Perpetrator: Israeli occupation forces.
Affected party: Three agricultural families from the village.
Details:
The Israeli occupation forces in third consecutive time, continue ravaging works in Al Joura Khalifa, Al Masmar from Madama village lands that adjacent to bypass road no.60.
Wednesday morning, May, 14th 2025, the Israeli occupation forces raided same location and began ravaging operations on three agricultural dunams, in the same time with cutting down and completely uprooting 34 fruitful olive trees. Which belong to three farmers from the village.
Israeli occupation forces previously had carried out, on April ,2nd 2025 ravaging and destruction operation by using a military bulldozer. These operations targeted several plots of land planted with olive trees, located very close from village homes. The occupation forces deliberately cut down and damaged 210 fruitful olive and almond trees, and demolished a harvesting cistern, as these ravaging practices extended to several agricultural plots under the pretexts that the occupation claims ‘’ related to security’’.
Previously, the occupation forces on March,8th 2025 bulldozed and cut down 55 fruitful olive trees.
The affected land belongs to several farmers:
Affected farmer |
Family member |
Female number |
Children number |
Affected trees number |
Mansour Hassan Ziadah |
4 |
1 |
2 |
14 |
Waseem Hussam Ziadah |
8 |
4 |
1 |
19 |
Bassam Mahmoud Nassar |
4 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
Total |
16 |
7 |
3 |
34 |
Farmer Mansour told LRC researcher as follows:
‘’This is a systematic plan to grab our lands. Now all of the farmlands near to bypass road are under threat from the occupation, some of which were already bulldozed, and some of which are yet uncounted. The inevitable result is that the land becomes utterly susceptible to the occupation, especially considering that these plots had previously been targeted by settlers who burned trees and caused damage to agricultural lands there.’’
Madama Village:
Madama is 12km to the southeast of Nablus and is surrounded by Iraq Burin and Till (north), Asira al Qibliya (west), Burin (east), and Urif (south).
According to 2014 population projections, Madama is inhabited by 2262 people.
It has a total area of 3824 dunums, 190 of which are built-up area of the village.
The Israeli occupation confiscated 118 dunums for Yitzhar colony which was built on Madama lands in 1983. The colony is inhabited by 400 colonists.
Land Classification under the Oslo Accords for the Village:
- Area B: 2509 dunums.
- Area C: 1314 dunums.
The Israeli occupation is not only taking over land and water resources of the village, but they are also targeting Palestinians residing there through attacking them on almost a daily basis.
Attacking Trees... A Form of Israeli Violations of Palestinian Environment:
The frequency of attacks by settlers and the military on Palestinian trees has been increasing. According to the field research team at the Land Research Center, since the beginning of 2024 until October 31, 2024, the occupation has targeted more than 57,323 trees and saplings, marking the highest number in the past 10 years. Of these trees, 90% have been completely destroyed, which signals a real environmental disaster.
The loss of trees, whether by cutting, burning, or poisoning, results in a reduction in the number of trees, leading to a decrease in vegetation cover. This, in turn, reduces the amount of oxygen produced in the region and increases the concentration of carbon dioxide. Moreover, the destruction of trees leaves animals without shelter or food, threatening the extinction of certain species due to the destruction of their natural habitat, which harms biodiversity.
About 236,660 trees have been vandalizing by the occupation forces and settlers over past ten years (first quarter of 2025) according to the field research team at LRC.
مشروع: حماية الحقوق البيئية الفلسطينية في مناطق "ج" SPERAC IV - GFFO
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of Land Research Center and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the project donor; the Norwegian Refugee Council.
إخلاء المسؤولية: الآراء ووجهات النظر الواردة في هذا التقرير هي آراء ووجهات نظر مركز أبحاث الأراضي ولا تعكس بالضرورة وجهات نظر أو مواقف الجهة المانحة للمشروع؛ المجلس النرويجي. للاجئين
