Violation: Cut 408 olive trees, 25 almond, 10 Citrus and demolish 8 agricultural structures.

Location: Rujeib village located east Nablus.

Date: March, 9^th 2025.

Perpetrators: Settlers from Itmar settlement.

Affected party: Several agricultural families.

Details:

Sunday morning, March,9^th 2025, Rujeib village witnessed an attack by settlers from Itmar settlement near the lands of the village.

It’s worth mentioning that a group of settlers from this settlement located on outskirts of the village attacked on Rujeib village lands, particularly Al Ras area, Al Abour followed to the village, as it contains about several plots planted with ancient olive trees.

The attack included vandalizing no less than 158 ancient olive trees and uprooting 250 olive saplings, in addition to destruct a siege surrounding with several plots and stealing agricultural equipment. 

It’s worth mentioning the targeted area witnessed previously several attacks extended on 600 dunams planted with ancient olive, as these attacks increased on agricultural sector and damaging properties.

According to village council accords, the damages as follows:

According to the details of attack, the farmer Shhadeh Jamil Ateeq told to the LRC researcher as follows:

‘’What happened is a result of repeated attacks on our lands, over past 4 years, in particular after the events of war on Gaza, our land faced several attacks from same settlers. Hundreds of olive trees were completely damaged by cut trees and vandalize lands. when we exist in our land , settlers attack us, we introducing several complaints to the occupation policy but useless, on contrary, settlers’ attack is increasing but we determine to remain in our land although the challenges that we faced.

Rujeib Village:

Rujeib village is located southeast Nablus city, about 4 km from Nablus city center, surrounded by Kafr Qaleel and Jarzeem mount (west) , Beit Furik town (east) , ‘Aska and Balata refugee’s camps (north) , and ‘Awarta (south).

Rujeib’s total 4917 dunams, about 724 dunams are considered the village’s built-up area.

Israeli colonies confiscated 133 dunums from Rujeib lands. as it located on a parts of lands Itmar settlement which established in 1984 and confiscated 133 dunams which 557 settlers live in it.

Bypass roads confiscated bypass road no.60 and around 823 dunums from the village:

• 1463 dunams are classified as area B.
• 3454 dunams are classified as area C.

Legal Commentary:

The Palestinian environment, in general, is subjected to numerous environmental violations by the Israeli occupation, disregarding all international and national laws and conventions related to the protection of environmental rights. The right to live in a clean and healthy environment is a fundamental human right that has been inherent to mankind since the beginning of creation. The occupation often attempts to present itself as being concerned with international environmental issues, despite having signed major environmental protection agreements, such as the Basel Convention in 1989, the Rotterdam Convention in 2008, the Stockholm Convention in 2001, and the Ramsar Convention in 1971, as well as air quality and climate protocols. Nevertheless, Israel continues to violate all of these treaties without accountability or oversight.

In addition to the provisions regarding the right to enjoy a clean and healthy environment for all those under military occupation according to international laws, conventions, and treaties, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in Resolution 2200A (d-21) on December 16, 1966, in Article (1), paragraph (2): "...All peoples, in pursuit of their own objectives, have the right to freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any obligations arising from the international economic cooperation based on the principle of mutual benefit and international law. In no case shall a people be deprived of its means of subsistence...".

Undoubtedly, the violations carried out by the Israeli occupation contradicts with the laws of the occupation state itself before any other laws. Referring to the details of this case, the Israeli Penal Code of 1977 and its amendments stipulate that trespassing on someone else's property to commit a criminal act punishable by law is an offense. By reading Article 452 of the Israeli Penal Code, we find that the law punishes those who commit an offense or cause damage to property such as (a water well, a water reservoir, a dam, a floodgate, planted trees, a bridge, a tank, or a water cistern) with a penalty of five years imprisonment.

In addition to, Article 447 of the Penal Code states: "Anyone who does any of the following with the intent to intimidate, insult, or harass the property owner or commit a crime shall be punished by imprisonment for two years:

(1) Enters or crosses the property;

  (2) After entering the property legally, remains there unlawfully.

(b) A crime is committed under this section if the offender carries a firearm or a cold weapon, and the punishment is imprisonment for four years."

By reading the text of this article, we find that the Israeli Penal Code criminalizes the mere act of entering someone else's property without permission, with the intent to insult, harass, or intimidate, and punishes this act with two years of imprisonment. The punishment increases to four years if the offender commits any act on someone else's property using a weapon or a sharp tool, referred to as a "cold weapon." This is explicitly criminalized in the text of Article 447 of the aforementioned Israeli Penal Code. Additionally, a penalty of 5 years imprisonment is imposed on those who cause damage to property mentioned in Article 452. Therefore, the violator, the "settler," should face a compounded violation: the first for entering a property that is not theirs, and the second for trespassing on and cutting down the planted trees, resulting in environmental harm.

Therefore, the Israeli aggressor blatantly violates both international laws and treaties, as well as the internal laws of the "occupying state," in a clear violation. Consequently, the "Israeli judiciary" must hold the settlers accountable and punish them for these actions based on the provisions of their own laws. However, there is no legal accountability for the aggressors by the Israeli judiciary. Despite this, every human being on this earth has the right to live in a clean, healthy, and safe environment, free from any violation or aggression against it.

مشروع: حماية الحقوق البيئية الفلسطينية في مناطق "ج" SPERAC IV - GFFO

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of Land Research Center and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the project donor; the Norwegian Refugee Council.

إخلاء المسؤولية: الآراء ووجهات النظر الواردة في هذا التقرير هي آراء ووجهات نظر مركز أبحاث الأراضي ولا تعكس بالضرورة وجهات نظر أو مواقف الجهة المانحة للمشروع؛ المجلس النرويجي. للاجئين

The effects of attacking on olive trees in Rujeib Village: