This article was originally published by Palestine News Network and is republished with permission.

A Palestinian man picks olives near Jenin, in the northern West Bank. Farmers in the village of 'Anin say that Israel has yet to allow them access to their fields for the annual harvest. (Raed Abu Baker, Maan Images)

Israeli authorities have prevented hundreds of Palestinian farmers from the western part of the northern West Bank's Jenin district from harvesting their olives.

"The effect on the economy is devastating," warned Rabah Yassin, Chairman of the village council of 'Anin, an agricultural village 8 miles (12 km) northwest of Jenin, near the Green Line border between Israel and the West Bank.

"Villages to the west of Jenin are suffering, as the occupying forces continue to deny more than 300 farmers permits to access their lands located behind the Apartheid Wall," continued Yassin, referring to Israel's separation wall in the West Bank by the name most commonly used by Palestinians. "They are using the pretext of security measures to stop the olive harvest."

Residents of the northern West Bank district's 'Anin village view the Israeli measures as arbitrary and designed to further stifle Palestinian development in the area. The village has already lost hundreds of acre's of farmland to Israel's separation barrier and the nearby settlement of Hinanit.

Residents say that by depriving Palestinians of the ability to partake in the olive harvest, Israeli measures are causing the local economy to fall into further collapse. Under continued closure, this year more than ever Jenin families are relying on the income generated from the olive harvest.

Yassin says that the Israeli military controls the opening and closing dates of the only gate farmers are allowed to pass through to access land located on the Western side of the wall.

But the end of the season is approaching, and Israeli officials are still refusing to issue the necessary permits.

During past seasons, Israeli forces have deployed in large numbers near the entrance gate to prevent farmers without permits from passing. Yassin says he is hoping for international intervention before it is too late.