Israeli military issues orders to seize Palestinian land and uproot trees near Bethlehem

Israeli authorities have issued four military orders to seize Palestinian land near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, including orders to seize 4.708 dunums of land in al-Khader and Arab al-Ta'amra and remove trees and vegetation from 10.085 dunums in Nahalin, the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said. The orders, issued on 28 October, place routes and sites under direct military control and require the removal of trees and vegetation around the settlements. One order covers a route cutting through agricultural terraces, linked to a plan to build a tower. The commission said its impact would extend well beyond the seized land. It also documented 674 attacks by Israeli forces and settlers on Palestinian farmers and olive trees across the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, between 1 October and 6 November. More than three-quarters were carried out by settlers. On Saturday, an Israeli settler assaulted a Palestinian man near Kisan, east of Bethlehem, and stole his belongings and groceries, local sources told the Palestinian news agency Wafa. In central Hebron, settlers smashed the windows of a Palestinian home on al-Shuhada Street. Near Anin, west of Jenin, they stopped farmers from harvesting olives next to a newly established outpost. Israeli forces seized a tractor and harvested olives west of nearby Arraba, detaining several Palestinians picking olives on their own land. South of Hebron, Israeli forces detained two brothers as they harvested olives east of Yatta and seized vehicles and tractors in Masafer Yatta. Palestinian Mohammed Sweiwi inspects olive trees destroyed by Israeli forces in Beit Awwa, west of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, 6 November 2026 (Reuters)