Over 250 Palestinian olive saplings destroyed by settlers in West Bank

A Palestinian landlord lost over 250 olive saplings to an Israeli settler attack in the occupied West Bank on Saturday.

Taysir Ali Ahmad said that settlers destroyed around 258 saplings he had planted on his land in Kafr Al-Deek, a town near the city of Salfit, in recent years.

Ahmad told the official Palestinian news agency Wafa he had spent almost 70,000 shekels ($19,000) on improving his land, planting almost 450 olive saplings – including some wrecked by settlers on Saturday.

Olive trees, which are often attacked by Israeli settlers, are a key symbol of Palestinian culture and their fruits are a staple in Palestinian cuisine.

They also play an important economic role, with around 100,000 Palestinian households relying on the crops as their main source of income.

Israeli settlers - and the forces protecting them as they live illegally in the occupied West Bank - routinely use violence against Palestinians.

The attack on the olive saplings came amid a period of intense violence by Israeli forces and settlers, who had killed more than 100 Palestinians so far this year.

There are currently more than 700,000 settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which Palestinians consider the capital of their future independent state.

Settlements breach international law and are viewed as a key barrier to achieving a two-state solution.