Israeli occupation forces and settlers cut down hundreds of trees in one week
Ramallah, May 5, 2026
The number of Palestinian fatalities between April 28 and May 4, 2026, reached 22, in addition to 85 injuries. According to the OIC Media Observatory on Israeli Crimes Against Palestinians, 14 Palestinians were murdered and five bodies were recovered, along with 58 others injured, in the Gaza Strip. This resulted from Israeli shelling that targeted various areas in the northern, central, and southern parts of the Gaza Strip, as well as the continued demolition of buildings east of Gaza City.
In April 2026, 377 Israeli violations were recorded, along with the ongoing Israeli restrictions on the entry of goods into the Gaza Strip, which exacerbated the humanitarian crisis.
In the West Bank, Israeli forces carried out 340 raids, arresting 172 Palestinians, killing three, and injuring 27 others. The total number of crimes committed by Israeli forces and settlers reached 1,006 in one week. The OIC Observatory recorded 73,771 killings since October 7, 2023, in addition to 183,136 injuries.
Regarding attacks on religious sites, Israeli violations against the Al-Aqsa Mosque reached 8 over seven days. In addition to the almost daily incursions into the mosque, the occupation forces removed two of the Al-Aqsa guards for periods ranging from seven days to six months. Settlers also tried to bring am animal sacrifice into Al-Aqsa through the Hutta Gate, in an attempt to slaughter it in the mosque’s courtyards, but the mosque guards prevented them from entering. The occupation forces caused the burning of the Uthman Bin Affan Mosque in the town of Beita in Nablus, and settlers attacked the sanctity of a cemetery in Tulkarm.
On the other hand, Israeli occupation forces killed one child, injured eight, and arrested four others. Settlers assaulted two children. The occupation forces also closed a school in the village of Rantis, raided the Palestine Technical University – Kadoorie, Al-Arroub branch, and toured its facilities. They demolished two houses, three shops, several livestock pens, and two water wells. They occupied two houses, uprooted an unspecified number of trees, and bulldozed land in five different areas of the West Bank. They also confiscated a forklift, a vehicle, an electrical transformer, a sum of money, a camera, and ten mobile phones.
Furthermore, they issued an order to confiscate land in the village of Kharsa for military purposes. During the reporting period, there were 112 settler attacks. One such attack involved a settler assaulting a Christian nun in Jerusalem, causing her injuries. Settlers also released livestock onto agricultural, grazing, and residential lands 22 times across seven Palestinian governorates. They bulldozed agricultural land in the villages of Al-Maniya in Bethlehem and Turmus Ayya in Ramallah, as well as a road in the village of Jalud in Nablus. They cut down 280 olive trees in villages in Hebron, Nablus, and Salfit, and an unspecified number of trees in Turmus Ayya. Additionally, they cut tree branches in Burin in Nablus and in Masafer Yatta in Hebron.
Settlers destroyed surveillance cameras, the contents of a house, two water networks, a water meter, a car window, and a fence. They also burned two cars, a bulldozer, an electricity distribution box, two agricultural rooms, and olive trees in three areas of the West Bank. They damaged crops, stole a truck loaded with animal feed, a tractor, two cars, a tent, water tanks, a fence, sheep, three cell phones, and an amount of money.
In the same context, the Israeli forces and settlers carried out 13 settlement activities. Among these, the occupation forces decided to confiscate 11,000 square meters of land in Masafer Yatta for settlement projects. They also excavated west of Dura to construct a settler road, decided to build 126 housing units on the ruins of the “Sa-Nur” settlement, bulldozed land in the village of Kisan to widen a road for settlers, and erected a communications tower to serve settlements east of Kisan. Settlers placed a container inside the Sharabati garage on land owned by Islamic endowments in Hebron, placed two iron gates in two different areas in the West Bank, erected tents on land in the village of Jalud, placed a mobile home near the village of Osarin in Nablus to establish settlement outposts, re-erected a tent east of Salfit after it had been previously demolished, set up sheep pens, brought agricultural equipment after setting up a tent in the Al-Murtaba area in Masafer Yatta, and also erected a wooden pen on land east of Salfit.