Israeli Settlers Target West Bank Factories and Farmland in Campaign to Force Palestinians Off Land

A massive fire, believed to have been started by Israeli settlers, has destroyed olive trees and farmland in the occupied West Bank. A blaze broke out near the al-Omari aluminium factory in the village of Ein Siniya, north of Ramallah, on Monday morning, spreading to roughly 50 dunams (12.3 acres) of perennial olive trees and causing damage to the industrial facility’s yard.

Sources told Al Jazeera that the incident comes amid a settler campaign targeting the West Bank economy, including farmland and industry, in a bid to displace Palestinians. Emad Khater, the head of Ein Siniya council, stated that a settler from the Atara hilltops was seen close to the facility before the fire started. When the blaze broke out, Israeli soldiers prevented residents and workers from putting out the fire.

“[It] is one of a series of systematic attacks that previously affected Ein Siniya, which included deliberate fires in trees, homes, and cars, in addition to theft incidents and physical assaults with beatings that affected citizens and workers inside the factories,” Khater said. Ein Siniya is located in Area B according to the Oslo Accords.

Abdul Samad Abdul Aziz, the owner of the Ein Siniya facility, reported that Israelis from illegal settlements had infiltrated the industrial site in late July and set fire to heavy equipment, causing an estimated $700,000 in losses after a stone crusher was severely damaged. Abdul Aziz noted that since settlers arrived in the area and established an outpost, vehicles and offices have been repeatedly attacked.

In the town of as-Samu, south of Hebron, Khaled al-Zaarir told Al Jazeera that about 30 settlers attacked an industrial facility he owned on August 21 following death threats. The assault damaged two mechanical excavators, three stone-cutting machines, three bulldozers, and a security office, leaving more than 90 percent of the heavy equipment unrepairable and affecting 55 people relying on the facility for income.

Economist Moayad Afanah warned that industrial facilities in Area B and Area C of the occupied West Bank are being targeted deliberately by settlers to exhaust the Palestinian economy, deepen the crisis, and create an environment that repels investment. Recent attacks have also affected the al-Junaidi dairy factories in the Tulkarem area.

Amir Dawoud, an official at the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CRRC), stated that his organisation documented 798 settler attacks in July alone, including property damage, land levelling, and vandalism of thousands of trees. Additional incidents included settlers erecting a tent near a concrete factory in Taybeh on March 25 and targeting a stone cutter machine in Sinjil on August 16. Dawoud emphasized that these actions serve a dual function of inflicting direct economic loss and producing a coercive environment to force Palestinians from their land.