Prominent Israeli settler rabbi Dov Lior ruled on Friday that settlers may harvest olives from Palestinian-owned groves, claiming the land belongs to the Jewish people, which constitutes theft under Jewish law.

The ruling comes amid a surge in army-backed settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, as part of efforts aimed at the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.

His ruling was not limited to land near illegal settlements, however, but also permitted settlers to take olive crops from Palestinian areas farther away.