Israeli campaign of West Bank destruction moves on to region’s food basket

What the report says

Israeli bulldozing and tree removal operations in and around Arraba, in the occupied northern West Bank, are affecting one of the area’s most productive farming zones, according to Al Jazeera’s report published Sept. 5, 2026. The article says the destruction has spread along the Arraba-Ya’bad road and into land that lies near, and in some cases beyond, the boundary of Area A, which is formally under Palestinian Authority control.

Local residents and Arraba’s mayor, Ahmed Arda, described a mix of military-backed demolition work, settlement expansion and settler violence. Al Jazeera reported that a new settlement, Emek Dotan, was inaugurated in August on land taken from Arraba, while other outposts and an older settlement have tightened pressure on the town. The report also says residents received notices ordering the removal of trees and vegetation for security reasons, and that some landowners have already seen olive and fig trees uprooted or cut down.

The outlet said the Arraba Plain sustains farming for Arraba and nearby communities, with olives and other crops central to local livelihoods. According to the report, hundreds of trees belonging to the al-Uraidi family and 400 fig trees owned by Naim al-Sha’er were recently destroyed. Officials and residents quoted by Al Jazeera said the campaign is leaving farmland inaccessible, damaging greenhouses and other facilities, and increasing fears of broader confiscations and displacement.

As background, Israeli settlements in the West Bank are widely considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this interpretation. The report frames the developments in Arraba as part of a wider pattern of intensified West Bank settlement activity and land clearance since the Gaza war began in October 2023.