Israeli aggression causes massive destruction to agricultural lands in Gaza Strip

Widespread destruction of agricultural lands and green spaces has resulted from the ongoing brutal Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip since last October, according to what was revealed by satellite images, experts and eyewitnesses from inside the Strip.

The American newspaper “The Washington Post” reported agriculture in the Gaza Strip was subjected to massive destruction, according to satellite images that showed the extent of the damage to the Strip as a result of “air strikes and Israeli bulldozers” that destroyed farms and orchards. After farmers abandoned their fields in search of safety, the agricultural crops withered and the livestock were left to die.

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, families in Gaza relied on local production for more than 40 percent of fruits and vegetables until 2022. Currently, relief experts are concerned that the damage to agriculture in Gaza will be long-term. According to relief agencies, the supply chain for agriculture has completely collapsed and the food production process was also disrupted.

Arif Hussein, chief economist at the United Nations World Food Programme, said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that, “Under the current circumstances, most of the population has been displaced. Who will produce food?” Who will work in the markets, trade lines or supply chains? As a result, almost everyone in Gaza is suffering from a crisis or the worst level of food insecurity, and among these people many are suffering from catastrophic levels of hunger.” He warned that “the situation has reached its worst.”

According to the United Nations Satellite Centre, UNOSAT, the health and density of arable land in Gaza has declined, as agriculture represented nearly half of the total land area of the Strip before the recent aggression, and now 45 percent of that agricultural land has been damaged.

Hay Ben, a satellite image analyst and assistant professor at Kent State University, stated that “nearly half of the olive and fruit trees in the Strip were damaged or destroyed as of last April 3, and in northern Gaza the losses could reach up to 71 percent.”

Chief Economist of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Maximo Torero warned that the level of food insecurity has reached a critical stage and that thousands of people are now at risk.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, only two of the three desalination plants are partially operational and many locals of Gaza live on brackish water.

Abdul Hakim Al-Waer, the Regional Representative of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for the Near East and North Africa, warned last March that the agricultural sector in Gaza had already entered the stage of collapse as the current conditions continued.

Al-Waer noted in an exclusive interview with United Nations News that with almost all the people in Gaza turning to dependency on humanitarian aid due to the inability of any producers and farmers to produce locally, there have become large cases of malnutrition, which have dire effects and cause chronic diseases for children in particular. The absence of nutrients and fresh vegetables will cause disabilities and major health problems, all leading to starvation.

According to previous statements by the head of the government media office in Gaza Strip, Salama Marouf, “there is a loss of all crops due to the inability of farmers to reach their lands to water and monitor them, and even if they arrive, they will not be able to operate the wells due to the lack of fuel and electricity.” He also pointed to “the running out of chicken feed and thus the death of the poultry.”

A human rights report issued by the “London research agency Forensic Architecture” in 2019 revealed that the Israeli occupation authorities were targeting the lands of the besieged Gaza Strip with chemicals that destroyed fields and crops, claiming that they were agricultural pesticides. From 2014 to 2018, they carried out thirty spraying operations with chemicals from the air near the outskirts of the Gaza Strip, causing severe damage to crops, livestock grazing areas, soil, farmers, and the people of Gaza Strip in general.

Inas Abdulkareem