Israeli settlers target Palestinian vineyard as attacks sweep West Bank

Israeli settlers destroyed dozens of grapevines on a farm north of Ramallah on Saturday as anti-Palestinian violence and intimidation continue to sweep the occupied West Bank.

The raid took place at the family-run Domaine Kassis vineyard near the town of Birzeit, and was the second such attack since a group of settlers set up an illegal encampment close to the farm two months ago.

"A third of our vines have been destroyed," Sari Kassis, whose family owns and runs the farm, told The New Arab.

The settlers are part of the Hilltop Youth, an extremist religious Zionist youth movement living in outposts across the occupied West Bank.

The group has targeted other farms in the area and several times attacked the nearby town of Atara, shooting two people and setting fire to homes and vehicles.

"This is part of a very organised programme of trying to chase us off our land," said Kassis.

"They target very specifically the active farms to try to discourage us from going down to our land."

Settlers - often operating under the protection of the Israeli military - have destroyed thousands of olive trees across the Palestinian territory in recent months.

In one of the largest such attacks, around 3,000 trees were uprooted in the village of al-Mughayyir in August by Israeli troops.

Vandalism of Palestinian agriculture has accelerated since the beginning of the current olive harvest season in October, disrupting a vital source of income for Palestinians living in rural areas of the West Bank.

Up to 100,000 families rely on the olive harvest for their livelihood, according to the UN.

"Our family is entirely dependent on this business," Kassis told The New Arab.

The farm won a court order to force the settlers to withdraw from the area, but the police have failed to carry it out. It has taken the issue to the Supreme Court in a bid to get the decision enforced.

Without intervention from the Israeli authorities, Kassis expects the settlers to destroy the remaining vineyards as well as his family's olive trees.

The rate of attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank has soared since October 2023, when the Hamas-led attack triggered Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza.

The settler movement has been empowered by far-right ministers in the government, including Itamar Ben-Gvir, who controls the police and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has acquired significant power over settlement policy.

More than one thousand Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military and settlers since 7 October 2023.