Mohammed Mukbal, a Palestinian land owner whose olive trees were uprooted by settlers two weeks ago, said Wednesday that the settlers prevented him from entering his land in order to foil a scheduled meeting between him and Israel Defense Forces representatives.

Settlers from the West Bank outpost of Adei Ad uprooted 300 of Mukbal's trees and replanted some of them decoratively along the entrance to the outpost.

According to Mukbal, he wanted to enter the property, in coordination with the IDF, in order to count how many of the uprooted trees had been replanted. About a week ago, the Civil Administration ordered the settlers to return to Mukbal 120 trees they had taken.

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The IDF closed the area off Wednesday morning in order to prevent settlers from entering Mukbal's land.

Earlier Wednesday, Mukbal's said that Israeli security forces may have been involved in the uprooting of his trees.

Mukbal's attorney Michael Sfard, the legal advisor of the human rights group "Yesh Din", has asked the Binyamin police department whether the internal affairs department is investigating the incident.

Mukbal, a resident of the West Bank Village Kfar Karyut, told Haaretz last week that he planted the trees in 1965. He told police that his family had seen an army jeep in the area around the time when the trees were uprooted, a fact which led them to suspect that security forces had been involved.

Mukbal says that the Civil Administration promised him that all 300 trees would be returned. The administration denies that he was given this promise, saying that 30 adult trees are supposed to be donated by Israelis but that they have no intention of purchasing young trees for Mukbal.

The Adei Ad settlers deny that Mukbal owns the land. Binyamin local council chairman Pinhas Wallerstein told Haaretz that the olives were uprooted because they no longer bore fruit.

Mukbal has presented documents proving that he is the land owner. He also has a letter from the Civil Administration recommending that part of his land be "closed off to Israelis". However since last November, this part of Mukbal's land has been inaccessible to him - not the settlers.