13th January 2013 | Operation Dove | At Tuwani, Occupied Palestine
This morning Palestinians discovered 20 olive trees destroyed alongside bypass road 317 in the South Hebron Hills area of At Tuwani.
The olive tree groves belongs to the Al Amor family from At Tuwani and had been planted 34 years ago. At 9.35 am the owners, Operation Dove volunteers and B’tselem staff members gathered near the destroyed trees, waiting for the police. After one hour the Israeli police and army arrived to the area and spent four hours documenting the incident.
Members of the Al Amor family testified that another 10 olive trees were damaged in the same orchard only two months ago. This field is located alongside bypass road 317 on the way from Ma’on settlement to Avigayil outpost and is not visible from At Tuwani, thus rendering it easier for vandals to damage trees over the past few years in this area.
The number of Palestinian-owned trees uprooted and damaged in the South Hebron Hills area in the last five months stand at 195. Olive trees are an essential resource for the Palestinian community, and their damage causes serious economic loss.
Nevertheless the Palestinian communities of the South Hebron Hills area are still strongly involved using the nonviolence as a way to resist to the Israeli occupation.
Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills since 2004.