Zionist enemy forces on Wednesday prevented hundreds of Palestinian farmers in the town of Deir al-Ghusun, north of Tulkarm in the northern occupied West Bank, from reaching their agricultural lands located behind the apartheid separation wall to harvest olives, despite holding the required permits.

The Al-Baidar Human Rights Organization said that enemy forces denied the farmers access to their lands during the olive harvest season, which represents a primary source of income for many Palestinian families that depend on the crop to meet their living needs.

The organization explained that preventing farmers from entering their lands, even when they have obtained the required permits, threatens to cause part of the harvest to be lost and inflict economic losses on them. This is particularly significant because olive harvesting is tied to a specific period, and delays may lead to a decline in both the quantity and quality of the crop.

This prohibition further compounds the burdens facing Palestinian farmers in accessing and cultivating their lands, depriving them of the benefits of a crop that constitutes a cornerstone of the Palestinian rural economy, while also being closely linked to preserving the land and sustaining an agricultural presence there.

The Al-Baidar Human Rights Organization called for farmers to be allowed to access their lands and harvest their olives without obstruction, and for them not to be deprived of their livelihood during the agricultural season.