Israeli Campaign of Destruction Reaches the Agricultural Heart of the West Bank

As Kamal al-Uraidi drove down the Arraba-Ya’bad road in the occupied West Bank, an early September day was disrupted by the noise of bulldozers and the cracking of olive trees being ripped from the ground. The destruction spanned kilometres, leaving whole fields of olive groves razed and structures reduced to twisted metal, with Israeli flags planted as far as the Arraba Junction and past the boundary of Area A.

Al-Uraidi witnessed a bulldozer completing its work on the al-Fari family’s land, where two Palestinian women pleaded with soldiers who kept them back. The family reported that their phones were confiscated and their IDs photographed to prevent filming. Nearby, a second bulldozer demolished more trees while families salvaged wood from the rubble.

Ahmed Arda, the mayor of Arraba, stated that his town is increasingly hemmed in by the Mevo Dotan settlement, the newly founded Emek Dotan settlement, and various settler outposts. Following October 2023, 1,500 dunums of farmland west of Arraba became inaccessible. The situation worsened in March with the reoccupation of the Arraba military camp, followed in May by the establishment of Emek Dotan. On August 9, Emek Dotan was formally inaugurated, accompanied by an immediate rise in settler attacks and security forces demanding Arda suppress local updates and protests.

The Arraba Plain, containing 33,000 dunums of arable land, serves as the agricultural backbone of the northern West Bank. Recently, Israeli authorities issued notices ordering the removal of trees and vegetation along a seven-kilometre stretch, citing 'security purposes' to provide soldiers with a clear line of sight. Landowners like Naim al-Sha’er have suffered heavy losses, including hundreds of fig trees destroyed in night raids by armed settlers.

Dror Etkes, co-founder of the settlement-watchdog organisation Kerem Navot, noted that the campaign is expanding into Area A with new military outposts and settler roads designed to bisect the northern West Bank. Despite the extensive destruction of orchards, homes, and memories tied to the land, residents like Ahmed al-Fari remain defiant, asserting that their roots and will cannot be erased.