Just the Facts: Olive Trees

  • Since 1967 between 800,000 and 2 million Palestinian olive trees have been uprooted by Israeli authorities.
  • Palestinians lose US $12.3 million each year due to uprooted olive trees.
  • Around 100,000 households rely on olives for their primary income.
  • Olive production accounted for 57% of cultivated land in the Palestinian territories with 7.8 million fruit-bearing olive trees.
  • In 2014, an estimated 108,000 tonnes of olives were pressed producing 24,700 tonnes of olive oil.
  • During the 2020 harvest there were 39 incidents in which settlers attacked Palestinian harvesters, blocked their access to their own olive groves, stole crops, and damaged trees and farming equipment.
  • Settlers mutilated more than 500 olive trees altogether.
  • They stole a total of about 20,000 kilos of olives.
  • The total number of trees uprooted, burned, or chemically poisoned by the settlers since 2010 have reached 101,988, accounting for losses of $47 million.
  • More than 8,400 olive trees were uprooted or burned in 2020.

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