[News] 'Almost wiped out': Israeli restrictions stifle recovery of Gaza's farmlands
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Sun Nov 2 13:21:23 EST 2025
middleeasteye.net
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/almost-wiped-out-israeli-restrictions-stifle-recovery-gazas-farmlands>
'Almost wiped out': Israeli restrictions stifle recovery of Gaza's
farmlands
Katherine Hearst
November 1, 2025
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https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/Untitled_10.jpg.webp?itok=ZSKG9tgj
A farmer works on a field as an Israeli army vehicle moves along the
separation fence on the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel,
on 19 September 2025 (AFP)
Naim Abu Amra's land in central Gaza's Deir al-Balah used to be covered
with greenhouses.
On the 11-dunam (one hectare) stretch of land east of Abu Holi, the
Palestinian <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine>
farmer grew tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and courgettes, with some
seasonal rotations of eggplants and leafy vegetables to keep the soil
healthy.
Like many of Gaza's farmers, Abu Amra was working with limited means due
to tight Israeli
<https://middleeasteye.net/countries/israel> restrictions on
agricultural imports, and had to be resourceful, using drip-irrigation
systems powered by solar panels and a small diesel pump.
His produce was sold in local markets, sustaining a family of eight and
providing work to seasonal labourers during the peak months.
But after Israel's genocidal war began in October 2023, everything
changed. The entire area was declared a "no-go zone". His greenhouses
were destroyed, irrigation pipes torn apart and the well filled with
sand and debris.
"Military bulldozers levelled the land to bare soil; even the plastic
and metal structures melted under the bombing," Abu Amra told Middle
East Eye.
His once-thriving fields were left unusable, covered in rubble and
littered with unexploded ordnance.
Still, he was determined to bring life back to the land. With the help
of his sons, he cleared debris using shovels and donkeys, and managed to
plant small patches of okra and molokhia using collected rainwater.
'The war didn't just take our crops. It took our future'
/- Naim Abu Amra, Gaza farmer/
The destruction, he said, wiped out not only his family's sole source of
income but also their sense of purpose.
"The psychological toll is heavy. Seeing land that once fed hundreds
reduced to ashes is devastating," Abu Amra said.
"My children, who used to help me harvest, now ask if we will ever see
our greenhouses again. The war didn't just take our crops. It took our
future."
The two-year onslaught has rendered over 95 percent of Gaza's
agricultural land inaccessible, according to a joint assessment
<https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/c4be554e-170f-413e-ae57-f77030be8d09/content> in
July by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United
Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT).
The data revealed that, as of May, 80 percent of Gaza's cropland was
damaged, while 77.8 percent of that land is now inaccessible to farmers.
But the damage extends across the entire sector, with 71.2 percent of
greenhouses and 82.8 percent of water wells impacted.
The FAO warned that the destruction signifies the "collapse of Gaza's
agrifood system and lifelines".
'Deliberate and carefully planned'
Prior to October 2023, Gaza's agriculture accounted for 11 percent of
its GDP, providing livelihoods for some 560,000
<https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/gaza-s-agricultural-infrastructure-continues-to-deteriorate-at-alarming-rate/en#:~:text=Rafah%20has%20suffered%20the%20highest,Looming%20famine>
people.
Now the contribution is reduced to under two percent, according to Bahaa
Zaqout, the director of external relations at the Palestinian
Agricultural Development Association (PARC). <https://pal-arc.org/en/>
"The sector is almost wiped out. The destruction was deliberate and
carefully planned," Zaqout told MEE.
Israel has long weaponised Gaza's food system by exerting tight controls
on the entry of equipment, fertilisers and even seeds into the
territory. But since October 2023, it has been pursuing a policy of
eradicating the sector entirely.
According to World Bank estimates, the process of restoring the sector
will cost $8.4bn.
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/explainers/israel-war-gaza-cut-palestinian-life-expectancy>
How Israel’s war on Gaza has cut Palestinian life expectancy
Read More »
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/explainers/israel-war-gaza-cut-palestinian-life-expectancy>
One of the biggest challenges will be the clearing of the 61 million
tonnes of debris coating Gaza's
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/gaza-buried-under-61-million-tonnes-rubble-un>land
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/gaza-buried-under-61-million-tonnes-rubble-un> -
15 percent of which is thought to contain toxic substances like
asbestos, which is infiltrating the soil and the ground water, as well
as unexploded ordinance.
Israel has barred the entry of the heavy equipment required to clear the
rubble, although it permitted the deployment of an Egyptian team and
vehicles
<https://www.newarab.com/news/egypt-vehicles-enter-gaza-clear-rubble-search-captives>to
help with the recovery of the bodies of Israeli captives in late October.
"We then need to test the quality of the water and the soil to ensure
that it is fit for agricultural purposes," Zaqout explained.
Agricultural water wells will also need to be restored, but Zaqout said
that the required materials are not available in Gaza.
The cost of greenhouse construction has also soared in the wake of the
genocide, due to a lack of construction materials.
"We need lots of investment. If that is available, it will take seven to
10 years to restore the agricultural sector to what it once was," Zaqout
said.
'Not even a tomato seed'
But this process cannot begin until Israel allows agricultural inputs to
enter Gaza, which it continues to tightly restrict.
Alongside the widespread destruction of cultivable land, the policy is
designed to eradicate any possibility of recovery.
Since October 2023, Zaqout reported that almost no agricultural imports
had entered Gaza.
This includes something as innocuous as seeds, which Israel's
Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (Cogat) deems
"dual use".
Even fruit and vegetables containing seeds were stopped at the border.
NGOs were instructed to remove the pits from dates.
"Not even a tomato seed was let through," Mariam Al-Jaajaa, general
manager of the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature (APN), said.
"Seeds are weaponised because they're a source of life."
'Seeds are weaponised because they're a source of life'
/- Mariam Al-Jaajaa, APN general manager/
The restrictions predate October 2023. When Israel imposed its blockade
on Gaza in 2007, seeds and a vast array of food stuffs - including pasta
and olives - were branded "dual use" and barred from entering the strip.
APN has repeatedly stepped in to support farmers in the aftermath of
wars, but this time the scale of the devastation outstripped anything
they'd seen previously.
Despite this, amid the onslaught, the organisation worked with over 700
farmers to cultivate over 1300 dunams of land, producing seven million
kilograms of vegetables.
Amid the ban on agricultural imports, APN turned to procuring and
cultivating locally, finding seeds in local storages and nurseries.
But prices were skyrocketing amid the Israeli-imposed siege.
"Before the war, it cost $5000 to cultivate land to produce food. Now,
it costs $25,000," Jaajaa said.
'No solution without justice'
Jaajaa noted that APN's work was only possible due to the fact that the
organisation is independently funded and not bound by the same
bureaucracy as big NGOs who she said tend to focus on food aid over
support for Gaza's agriculture.
"When we began our outreach, we found around 600 farmers who had access
to their lands. They wanted support for the inputs of production. It was
that easy. But we found ourselves among the very few organisations who
were doing this work," Jaajaa told MEE.
For Jaajaa, the reluctance of big NGOs to engage in the work of
restoring Gaza's agricultural land stems from the political implications
of Palestinians having control over their croplands.
"It's a source of food. It's the most important economic sector for
Palestinians. But it also protects lands from confiscation because if
lands are cultivated, it's more difficult to confiscate them," Jaajaa said.
But a thriving agricultural sector also allows Palestinians within the
territory to sustain themselves.
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestine-israel-gaza-tomato-restrictions-export-lucrative-crop>
Dangerous tomatoes: Gaza farmers decry Israeli restrictions on export of
lucrative crop
Read More »
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestine-israel-gaza-tomato-restrictions-export-lucrative-crop>
"All these international organisations are focusing on what was
destroyed all through the war. But you should also focus on what can be
cultivated," according to Jaajaa.
"If they're saying two percent of the land is fertile and can be
accessible, that's around 2300 dunams. Farmers are waiting for
assistance and their inputs. So go ahead and plant them. We believe
that, politically, these organisations do not have the autonomy to do
sustainable projects in Gaza," she added.
Before Israel launched its genocidal war, Palestinian farmers not only
had to contend with tight restrictions on agricultural inputs, but also
on their exports - forcing them to reorient their crops to products like
strawberries and flowers, which were permitted by Israel.
Thirty percent of Gaza's arable land
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11721118> was lost to
Israel's "buffer zone", which runs along the length of the boundary
fence hemming the territory.
Similarly, Palestinian fishermen were restricted to an area within six
nautical miles off Gaza's shorelin
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/23/gaza-fisherfolk-can-only-dream-of-fishing-freely-under-israels-blockade>e
in the north and 15 in the south. Since October 2023, many have been
unable to access the sea at all, with a few risking their lives by
boarding flimsy vessels to cast their nets.
Jaajaa emphasised that any significant recovery of Gaza's food system is
dependent on Palestinians' ability to control every aspect of
production, something which Israel has long denied them and wielded as a
weapon.
"You can't have a sustainable resolution without having justice."
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