Smotrich: Move helps end 'the idea of a Palestinian state'

Smotrich announces uprooting of 3,000 trees planted by Palestinians in northern West Bank

Civil Administration says trees’ removal, latest in a series of such actions, will enable the creation of a new settlement; 3 Palestinians reportedly injured in settler attack

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that Israel uprooted some 3,000 trees planted by Palestinians in the northern West Bank, which he said were located on state land.

“We are building the Land of Israel and destroying the idea of a Palestinian state,” said Smotrich, repeating a phrase he is fond of using. He said the trees had been planted illegally and that the action aimed to “prevent attempts by the Palestinian Authority to establish facts on the ground.”

Smotrich also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry, overseeing civilian matters in the West Bank. The trees’ removal was carried out by the Civil Administration, a branch of the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator for Government Affairs in the Territories (COGAT), which is in charge of the territory’s civilian affairs.

The uprooting was the latest in a series of actions by Israeli government bodies to destroy trees in the West Bank, in part to make room for settlement expansion. The initiative has also come amid intensifying violence by settlers, including attacks targeting Palestinian agricultural activity.

The trees were planted on some 50 acres of land close to the Shahak Industrial Park near the Shaked settlement. Although Smotrich’s statement didn’t specify which trees were uprooted, it appeared from pictures sent by his office that they were olive trees.

Smotrich said the trees were planted within the boundaries of the zoning masterplan for Shahak and that removing them would enable the further expansion of the industrial park together with the establishment of a new settlement, in accordance with policies the government has already approved.

State land is not privately owned and is available for the government to allocate for the public benefit, including through the construction of residential homes and infrastructure, as well as economic and agricultural activity.

Virtually all of the state land that Israel has allocated for use has been given to the needs of Israeli settlements, according to information provided by the Civil Administration in 2018.

The uprooting of the 3,000 trees on Wednesday followed numerous other tree removal operations by Israeli forces in the West Bank over the past year.

The same announcement noted that this “enforcement operation” was a continuation of previous ones in the area. In September, 2,500 trees were uprooted there, followed by 6,300 trees in December 2025.

The uprooting of the trees on Thursday drew condemnation from Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights organization.

“While the state supports hundreds of illegal outposts which constitute focal points for severe violence by Israelis against Palestinians, it compounds one crime with another, by cutting down thousands of olive trees just because they belong to Palestinians and thereby does mortal damage to the income of thousands of people,” Yesh Din said.

Over 120 illegal outposts have been established during the course of the current government, mostly on state land and often with the coordination of municipal settlement authorities.

The Civil Administration is not the only Israeli government body that has uprooted trees in the West Bank in the last year.

Last August, the IDF uprooted thousands of olive trees in the central West Bank village of al-Mughayyir — over a space of ​​about 300 dunams (74 acres) — following a shooting attack in the area carried out by a resident of the village.

While the IDF denied at the time that the move was intended as collective punishment for the village, they came just days after the chief of the IDF Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, had said that al-Mughayyir would “pay a heavy price” for the attack.

Bluth stated that one mission of the forces was “to carry out ‘shaping operations’ here… so that everyone will be deterred, and not only this village, but any village that tries to raise a hand against any of the [Israeli] residents.”

Trees have also been targeted by settler attacks. In November, the Palestinian Authority’s news agency WAFA reported that fifteen ancient olive trees were chopped down amid a broader attack by settlers on local Palestinian farmers in the village of Susya, which is part of the Masafer Yatta enclave in the South Hebron Hills.

3 Palestinians reportedly injured in settler attack

Also on Thursday, Palestinian media outlets reported that three Palestinians were injured in a settler attack in Khirbet Samra in the northern Jordan Valley. According to the reports, they were beaten by armed settlers who also opened fire.

No Palestinians were reported to have been struck by the gunfire.

Footage circulated on social media appears to show Palestinians fleeing the area, while objects resembling stones are thrown at them as they escape.