HaMoked to the Military: during the upcoming olive harvest season, allow Palestinian farmers to harvest their olive groves in West Bank lands beyond the Separation Barrier

On July 28, 2024, HaMoked sent the military a letter to demand that Palestinian farmers in the West Bank be allowed to harvest their olives groves in the “Seam Zone” – the areas of the West Bank trapped between the Green Line Border and the Separation Wall. The military enforces a draconian permit regime in these areas where the Wall was built inside the West Bank, with the approval of the High Court of Justice (HCJ). The letter was sent due to the military’s decision, immediately following the outbreak of the war on October 7, 2023, to sweepingly ban the entry into the Seam Zone of Palestinians who own or work lands there, and who had previously been allowed entry pursuant to hard-to-receive entry permits. Some ten months later, the military has continued banning the entry of almost all Palestinian farmers (except for a small number whose plots require daily maintenance, who have been exempted from the ban following HaMoked’s November 2023 High Court petition on the matter).

Therefore, HaMoked demanded that the military halt this ban during the olive harvest and ensure that all Palestinians with ties to lands in the Seam Zone (farmers, their family members and agricultural workers) receive the necessary permits to conduct the harvest. HaMoked also requested that the schedule for opening all of the gates (seasonal and agricultural) be published ahead of time, both for the advance preparations required and for the harvest itself; and that the gates be opened 7 days a week and punctually, rather than late as often happens.  

HaMoked added that during the previous harvest season and following the abovementioned petition, in late November 2023, the military opened most of the gates in the Separation Barrier to allow farmers to harvest their olive trees – but only for a few days, despite the fact that the olive harvest usually lasts for some three months and also requires advance preparation of the plot (the clearing of stones and thorns, etc.).

HaMoked noted that, while this letter specifically focuses on the period of the olive harvest, it maintains its demand that the military revoke the sweeping limitation on the entry of Palestinians to their trapped farmlands throughout the year, as demanded in HaMoked’s renewed High Court petition, submitted May 23, 2024 and pending.