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Illegal Israeli settlers cut down 120 olive trees, a main source of income for Palestinians, in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported on Sunday.
Farmland covering about 10 dunams in Keysan village, southeast of Bethlehem and owned by farmer Ali Abu Deyye, came under attack by illegal settlers.
The attackers felled 120 olive trees on the land during harvest season.
Olives, picked at this time of year, are a livelihood for thousands of Palestinian families in the West Bank. Illegal Israeli settlers' assaults on trees rise sharply, particularly during peak picking weeks.
In these assaults, trees are cut or burned, olives are stolen, and farmers are barred from their fields, while some growers are injured or detained.
The Palestinian Council for Combating the Apartheid (Shame) Wall and Jewish Settlements documented the cutting or damaging of more than 45,000 trees in the occupied West Bank in the first half of 2026, including over 26,000 olives.
Winter’s approach is deepening shelter problems for nearly 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, a senior U.N. migration official warned on Oct. 16, pointing to funding gaps, Israeli restrictions and repeated displacement that leave humanitarian agencies unable to offer adequate protection.
Karl Baker, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) regional crisis coordinator for Gaza, said an estimated 1.8 million to 1.9 million Palestinians need shelter help, while aid groups lack the resources and access to respond.
Only about 30% of Gaza is open to most residents, he warned, pushing displaced families into ever more crowded areas, many prone to flooding.
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Gaza’s Health Ministry said Friday that malnutrition and starvation have killed at least 466 Palestinians since 2024, 157 of them children, warning that food insecurity is worsening for over 1.4 million people.
Health officials released the figures on World Food Day, marked every year on Oct. 16, citing the continuing humanitarian toll of Israel’s military campaign and curbs on aid deliveries into the Palestinian territory.
Starvation has killed 189 elderly Palestinians, or 40.5% of reported deaths, the ministry said.
The U.N. declared famine in Gaza in August 2025.
Through the end of 2026, more than 1.4 million Palestinians, roughly 67% of Gaza’s population, will confront food insecurity at crisis level or worse, the ministry projected.
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