How Israel is making war on West Bank farmers

Amal Slaibi, 58, averts her eyes whenever she passes the remains of her family’s small but profitable orchard in the occupied West Bank, which she has managed since her father became too old to tend to the crops 25-years-ago.

Amal has fond memories of growing up among the grapevines and peach trees of the farm in Beit Ummar, north of Hebron. The fruits provided the family with a generous source of income, while the leaves cast a pleasant shade over the land.

That was until 1984, when the illegal Israeli settlement of Karmei Tzur was built, the iron fence demarcating the outpost eating into the Slaibis’ land.

Last November, Israeli bulldozers arrived at the village, uprooting their grapevines. Their seven-dunam orchard and about 30 dunams of land belonging to Slaibi’s uncle were levelled by the Israeli military.

Soldiers ordered the family not to come within 500 metres (546 yards) of their grapevines, claiming the land lies too close to the illegal Karmei Tzur settlement, despite her family having owned the land for generations.

“They prevented us from even passing near it, then they bulldozed it all … They left us with nothing to live on,” Slaibi told Al Jazeera.

Lost land

The harvest, in May and June, used to provide the Slaibi family of 12 with at least 10,000 shekels (approximately $3,300), a modest but adequate sum.

After the plants were uprooted, they tried to compensate their losses by picking grapes and vine leaves from distant farmland they owned, but this was inferior to their most treasured and profitable orchard, which now lies ruined.

“The land that was bulldozed has moist, rich soil, excellent for growing grapes and other crops, but the other land is dry and unsuitable,” Slaibi said.

Since the beginning of the war against Gaza in October 2023, the Israeli army, which has occupied the West Bank since 1967, has tightened restrictions on thousands of Palestinian farmers accessing their farms.

When Israeli authorities allow Palestinians onto access their land for a brief few hours a month, families rush to their olive groves or grape vines – often their sole source of income – to prepare them for the harvest season. The few days they have over the year to tend to their crops is rarely enough time for the farmers to guarantee a proper yield.

“One time last year, they allowed us to enter our land to plough [it]. We were so happy, and I went with my elderly father, but as soon as we arrived, the settlement’s security guards opened fire on us, and we miraculously escaped,” she added.

“We don’t even have the means to cultivate it, plough it regularly, and care for it because our main source of income is gone. Even if they allowed us to return, it would take us time and effort to determine the boundaries of our land because it has all become flat and unmarked.”

The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture noted in January a dangerous and unprecedented escalation in Israeli violations against the West Bank’s agricultural sector in 2025, carried out by both Israeli soldiers and settlers.

Damage to greenhouses, agricultural machinery, and roads used by farmers in the West Bank was estimated at $2.57m, but the ministry estimated that overall direct economic losses amounted to more than $103m. The Israeli campaign against West Bank agriculture had repercussions far beyond this sector, with impacts on supply chains, rises in food costs, increases in unemployment, and worsening the economic situation and security of rural families.

“This has hindered farmers’ access to their lands, disrupted production and marketing, and systematically weakened agricultural value chains,” the ministry said in a statement.

Fighting back with bees

Around the southern Hebron Hills, one Palestinian family has stood resilient in the face of repeated settler attacks.

Jihad Nawajah, from the village of Susya in Masafer Yatta, had a small flock of sheep until 2010, when settlers poisoned the animals, killing dozens of them.

Despite losing his sole source of income and settler attempts to seize his land, Nawajah decided to stay put and came up with the idea of making honey instead. He started in 2011 with just three hives, but five years later, the apiary had grown to 120, producing some of the finest honey in the West Bank due to the unique flora of Masafer Yatta.

In 2016, settlers returned and destroyed 100 beehives, causing Nawajah losses of about 200,000 shekels ($67,000).

“I rebuilt my beehives so the settlers wouldn’t rejoice in my loss,” he told Al Jazeera. “In 2025, they tried to burn some of them, but we drove them out. We’re in danger every moment and can’t go more than 50 metres (55 yards) from our homes.”

Nawajah moved the remaining beehives closer to his home to deter further settlers’ attacks. Beekeeping still provides him with a source of income, and although it is not as profitable as it once was, it is still a more secure existence than livestock farming.

“I urge all the residents of Masafer Yatta to take up beekeeping because it’s difficult for the settlers to steal the hives and approach them like livestock. This way, we can maintain our presence and steadfastness on our land,” he concluded.

The beekeeping sector in the West Bank is still regularly attacked by settlers, resulting in direct losses of approximately $154,000 to the industry, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

The damage to the beehives has serious environmental consequences beyond the farms, with a decline in natural pollination of surrounding crops due to there being fewer bees.

Harsh facts

The World Food Programme’s Food Security Assessment for the fourth quarter of 2025 highlighted the continued impact of settler attacks on the economic wellbeing of Palestinians.

Poverty levels in the occupied West Bank rose from 12% before October 2023 to 28% by the end of 2026, according to a survey.

About 78% of surveyed households reported a decrease in their incomes, and more than 60% said they were now unable to cover their basic monthly expenses. Rising food costs and fuel prices, coupled with declining purchasing power, have severely strained household resources.

The number of households having inadequate food consumption nearly tripled, rising from 5% in June 2022 to 14% by the end of 2025. More and more Palestinians are relying on lower-quality or cheaper foods, fewer meals, and reduced portion sizes. The unemployment rate in the West Bank, meanwhile, reached 30% during the first quarter of 2026, according to the United Nations.

Economist Nasr Abdel Karim said the role of settler attacks on these losses of income is undeniable, while the situation has caused difficulties for Palestinian farmers to transport goods and has increased costs.

“In the absence of organised distribution networks, they are forced to rely on their individual efforts, which creates additional difficulties,” Abdel Karim told Al Jazeera.

“I estimate that more than 20% of their activities have declined due to these current circumstances.”

Small business owners and those with limited incomes – such as beehive or livestock farmers – have been disproportionately affected.

The national Palestinian economy has suffered a 25% decline in the last two years, meaning it has lost a quarter of a percent of its capacity, according to the UN.

“The primary factor affecting the Palestinian economy and the movement and activities of people, both institutions and individuals, is the Israeli occupation in its various manifestations, the most aggressive of which are the settlers’ behaviour and barbarity,” Abdel Karim explained.