Israeli occupation authorities have issued a military order mandating the uprooting of almond trees and wild vegetation across 37.8 dunums of Palestinian agricultural land in the towns of Dura and Tarqumiya in the occupied West Bank governorate of Hebron, the Colonization & Wall Resistance Commission reports.

Signed on 28 October by Israeli military commander Avi Bluth under the pretext of “security measures,” Military Order No. 139/26 spans a stretch exceeding 7.5 kilometers across several areas in Dura, including Tars, Wadi Khuzem, Khirbet Deir Samit, Khirbet Sabr, Jabal al-Saadi, and Khirbet al-Deir, as well as land in Tarqumiya.

Landowners have been given just seven days following a scheduled field inspection by Israeli liaison authorities to clear the vegetation themselves or face forced removal by military-authorized contractors, alongside a narrow seven-day window to file legal objections.

The commission warned that stripping the trees and flora severely damages the region’s agricultural and ecological landscape while undermining Palestinian farmers’ livelihoods and ties to their land.

Emphasizing that invoking “security” serves as an instrument to forcibly alter facts on the ground, the commission noted that while the directive does not formally transfer land ownership, it directly strips Palestinians of their ability to cultivate and benefit from their property.