Palestinian farmers rebuild what Israeli settlers destroy in West Bank

What the report says

Palestinian farmers in Burin, in the occupied West Bank, are rebuilding greenhouses and crops after repeated damage they attribute to Israeli settlers, according to Al Jazeera. The report focuses on the Burin Land and Farming Cooperative, a group of about 25 families that works collectively on roughly 25,000 square metres of land and says it sees farming as both an economic activity and a form of political resistance.

Al Jazeera said one of the most recent incidents occurred on July 13, when a settler entered a greenhouse area and a confrontation followed with cooperative members and border police. The next night, the cooperative said about 10 settlers returned and destroyed all five of its greenhouses, including plastic coverings and irrigation systems. The article said the damage also included tomato seedlings bought that morning. Later, the cooperative reported further losses of trees and wheat crops, while much of the land remains subject to recurring Israeli military closure orders.

The piece places these events within broader violence in the West Bank, citing UN figures on settler attacks through July and noting that human rights groups have accused Israeli authorities of enabling such attacks. It also describes the cooperative’s response: members return to the land after raids, replant, and use training and shared revenues to support local families and community programmes.

Al Jazeera presents the Burin farmers’ rebuilding effort as part of a wider struggle over land, livelihoods and what they describe as food sovereignty under occupation.