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<font size="1"><a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210128-israel-destroys-nature-reserve-uproots-10000-trees/">https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210128-israel-destroys-nature-reserve-uproots-10000-trees/</a>
</font><h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Israel destroys nature reserve, uproots 10,000 trees</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">January 28, 2021</div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div id="gmail-post-content"><p>The
Israeli army yesterday destroyed a natural reserve and uprooted at
least 10,000 trees in a military campaign in the northern West Bank in a
move that Palestinians termed a "crime".</p><p>Moataz Bisharat, who is
responsible for monitoring Israeli settlement activity in the Jordan
Valley, told Anadolu Agency that the occupation army pushed military
vehicles and dozens of soldiers into the Ainun area in Tubas city in the
morning and destroyed a nature reserve built on an area of about 400
dunums (98 acres).</p><div id="gmail-attachment_450975" class="gmail-wp-caption"><p><img src="https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/20210127_2_46586164_61988621.jpg?fit=933%2C622&quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1" alt="TUBAS, WEST BANK - JANUARY 27: Israeli forces intervene in Palestinians after trees were destroyed by Israeli forces in Tubas, West Bank, January 27, 2021. Israeli forces destroyed thousands of trees in the woods on the grounds that they were at the military exercise area. ( Nedal Eshtayah - Anadolu Agency )" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="425" height="283"></p><p class="gmail-wp-caption-text">Israeli
forces intervene in Palestinians after trees were destroyed by Israeli
forces in Tubas, West Bank, January 27, 2021. [Nedal Eshtayah – Anadolu
Agency]</p></div><p>The occupation army "chopped down and destroyed about 10,000 forest trees and about 300 olive trees," he said.</p><p>Trees
were planted in the nature reserve eight years ago as part of the
Greening Palestine project supervised by the Palestinian Ministry of
Agriculture and funded by the Venezuelan consulate in Palestine.</p><p>Bisharat
stressed that the occupation alleged that the destruction of the
reserve came as it was classed as a military zone even though it was not
more than 300 metres away from residential areas and it served as an
"outlet" for residents.</p><p>In a statement, the Palestine Liberation
Organisation's Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission said Israel
"has formed a special unit whose mission is to wage war on the Jordan
Valley."</p><p>"A
security apparatus has been formed to oversee construction and
agriculture in Area C and it has undertaken to wipe out the Palestinian
presence," the statement read.</p><p>The commission described the
incident as "a crime and a campaign of eliminating trees, buildings,
livestock and sources of income."</p><p>What is happening, it added, is "part of a war waged by a terrorist state [Israel] that is burning green areas."</p><p>The
Palestinian commission called for "international protection for the
Palestinian presence in Area C," calling on the international community
to stop discrimination in dealing with the crimes of the Israeli
occupation.</p>
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