Attacks by Israeli forces and illegal settlers destroyed more than 8,000 olive trees across the occupied West Bank in one week, causing losses of nearly $7 million, Al Mayadeen reported Friday, citing the Palestinian Agriculture Ministry.

The Ministry said Thursday the damage recorded in a single week in December reflects a “dangerous and accelerating escalation,” with agriculture increasingly targeted as part of a systematic policy to “seize Palestinian land and empty it of its indigenous inhabitants.”

The most severe damage hit the northern and central West Bank: about 5,000 olive trees were uprooted in Silat al-Harithiya (west of Jenin) and 3,000 in Turmus Ayya (east of Ramallah).

Additional bulldozing included 156 olive trees in eastern al-Quds, 13 in eastern Qalqilya, 19 in Salfit and Beit Lahm (10 described as ancient), and 100 fig trees in Tulkarm.

Officials say assaults often coincide with planting and harvest seasons to pressure farmers to abandon their land.

The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission recorded 621 settler attacks in November alone.

Since October 2023, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 1,103 Palestinians in the West Bank (including eastern al-Quds), injured nearly 11,000, and detained about 21,000.