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The Israeli military issued an order on Saturday to uproot olive trees in a 0.27sq-km (0.1sq-mile) area in al-Mughayyir, a village of about 4, 000 residents northeast of Ramallah.

The army justified the measure by saying the trees posed a “security threat” to a main Israeli settlement road that runs through the village’s lands.

The destruction was carried out as al-Mughayyir has been under lockdown since Thursday after an Israeli settler said he was shot at in the area.

The deputy head of the village council, Marzouq Abu Naim, told Palestinian news agency Wafa that Israeli soldiers had stormed more than 30 homes since dawn on Saturday, destroying residents ‘ property and vehicles.

For decades, the Israeli military has uprooted olive trees – an important Palestinian cultural symbol – across the occupied Palestinian territory as part of the country’s efforts to seize Palestinian land and forcibly displace residents.

The West Bank also has seen a surge in Israeli military and settler violence since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, and tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forced out of their homes.

More than 2, 370 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians have been reported across the area from January 2024 to the end of July this year, according to the latest figures from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The highest number of attacks – 585 – was recorded in the Ramallah area, followed by 479 in the Nablus region in the northern West Bank.

At least 671 Palestinians, including 129 children, also have been killed by Israeli forces and Israeli settlers across the West Bank in that same time period, OCHA said.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment on Saturday on the uprooting of the olive trees in al-Mughayyir.

Hamza Zubeidat, a Palestinian researcher, said the destruction is part of Israel’s “continuous” effort to force Palestinians off their lands.

“We have to be clear that since 1967, Israel is still implementing the same plan of evicting the Palestinian population from the countryside and the cities of the West Bank. What’s going on right now is just a continuous process of this eviction of Palestinians. It’s not a new Israeli process”, Zubeidat told Al Jazeera.

He noted that al-Mughayyir has a long agricultural history and, like other villages in the West Bank, relies almost entirely on agriculture and livestock as its main source of income.

“This area where more than 3, 000 olive trees]were] uprooted is one of the most fertile areas in this part of the Ramallah area”, Zubeidat explained.

At least 37 Palestinians, including 10 seeking aid, have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera, as health authorities in the besieged territory recorded eight more deaths from malnutrition amid a deepening hunger crisis.

Israeli artillery shelled tents sheltering displaced families in the Asdaa area northwest of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing 16 people, including six children, on Saturday, according to medical sources.

In central Gaza, two people were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a house in the Maghazi refugee camp.

A Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli forces while waiting for aid near a distribution point close to the so-called “Morag axis”, southeast of Khan Younis.

Another civilian seeking aid was shot dead near the Israeli-controlled Netzarim Corridor.

Starvation deaths

Palestinian health authorities said on Saturday that eight more Palestinians, including two children, died from malnutrition over the past 24 hours, raising the total death toll to 281 since the onset of the humanitarian crisis.

Munir al-Bursh, the director-general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, said on social media that among the victims, 114 are children.

“The famine is silently ravaging the bodies of civilians, depriving children of their right to life, and turning tents and hospitals into daily scenes of tragedy,” he added.

The United Nations on Friday officially declared a famine in Gaza, the first time it has done so in the Middle East, with experts warning 500,000 people face “catastrophic” hunger.

The UN has accused Israel of “systematic obstruction” of aid deliveries to the war-ravaged Palestinian territory, and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the famine as a “man-made disaster”.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system, a global hunger monitor, said 514,000 people – close to a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza – are experiencing famine, with the number due to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said many other Palestinians in Gaza were at risk from malnutrition.

“The UN famine report has been very late, according to Palestinians. They have been witnessing weeks and months of this ongoing starvation,” she said.

‘Engineering of starvation’

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said on Saturday that it “appreciates” the declaration of famine in the enclave, although it believes the announcement was late.

“We emphasise that the engineering of starvation is one aspect of the chapters of genocide, which also include the systematic destruction of the health sector and other sectors, mass killing, and the policy of exterminating generations,” the ministry wrote in a statement on Telegram.

Since May 27, Israel has enforced a unilateral aid delivery mechanism through the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” backed by Israel and the US but rejected by the UN and major relief groups.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 2,076 Palestinians have been killed and more than 15,300 people wounded while seeking aid since the GHF scheme was launched.

Manchester City’s troubles from last season have been exposed once more in a humbling 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham that raises questions about their quest to regain the Premier League title.

Brennan Johnson and Joao Palhinha struck for the Europa League winners on Saturday just before half-time as Spurs went top of the table, making it a perfect start for manager Thomas Frank after two league games in charge.

City’s run of four consecutive titles came to a spectacular end last season as they finished a distant third behind Liverpool and Arsenal.

A 4-0 thrashing of Wolves on the opening weekend of the campaign showed glimpses of a new-look City back to their best.

However, a series of defensive issues remain unresolved as manager Pep Guardiola must decide on who will be his number one goalkeeper going forward after a day to forget for James Trafford.

The England international retained his place in goal despite the return to fitness of Ederson.

The Brazilian is reportedly on the verge of joining Turkish giants Galatasaray, which would free up City to make a move for out-of-favour Paris Saint-Germain keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

City’s failure to get those deals done before the final week of the transfer window came back to haunt them in a familiar tale for Guardiola’s men against Tottenham.

In the last 13 Premier League meetings between the sides, City have won just four despite several changes of management at Spurs in that time.

Frank is the latest man in the Tottenham dugout and has made a highly impressive start.

Spurs were minutes away from beating PSG in the UEFA Super Cup before losing on penalties and have taken maximum points from their opening two Premier League games without conceding a goal.

Omar Marmoush’s return was one of two City changes as Ballon d’Or winner Rodri had to settle for a place on the bench.

Marmoush flashed a shot across goal and was then denied by Guglielmo Vicario with City’s best chance before conceding.

City’s high line was easily exposed in an embarrassing early exit from the Club World Cup to Saudi side Al-Hilal last month and is an issue Guardiola still has to resolve.

Tottenham took the lead at 35 minutes when Mohammed Kudus fed Richarlison, and he squared for Johnson to power past Trafford.

An offside flag briefly halted Spurs’ joy until a VAR review showed the slipping Ruben Dias had played Richarlison onside.

City then completely lost their composure for the period before half-time.

Trafford was fortunate to avoid being punished after rushing outside his box to block a shot from Kudus.

But the 22-year-old then endured a moment that might cost him the chance to be Guardiola’s number one this season.

Trafford’s attempted pass to Nico Gonzalez inside his own box was intercepted by Pape Matar Sarr, and even though the goalkeeper recovered to deny Richarlison, Palhinha smashed home the rebound.

Erling Haaland had the chance to reduce City’s arrears in first-half stoppage time but headed over the goal to sum up a tough afternoon for the Norwegian.

Spurs let a two-goal lead slip late on against PSG in Frank’s first game in charge but rarely looked in danger of suffering a similar fate on Saturday.

Haaland wasted City’s other big opportunity to gain a foothold when he overhit a pass to Rayan Cherki with just Vicario to beat.