The Israeli war on Gaza was a great challenge for the sector’s farmers who produce tons of vegetables and fruits for the Strip and export them to Arab and European countries, but with the ceasefire there are hopes for the revival of the Palestinian “food basket”.
The Israeli occupation washed away thousands of agricultural dunums during the war on Gaza. Its abundant harvest covers the domestic market and exports its finest to the West Bank, Israel, Arab, European and even Russian markets.
The unprecedented war represented a harsh challenge and a bitter challenge to farmers in the Gaza Strip, a number of whom were forced to reclaim some lands in humanitarian areas, and to grow some vegetables for the Gazan market to confront starvation during the war.
Expelling and bombing
The Palestinian farmer, Muhammad al -Dahlis, a resident of the city of Rafah (southern Gaza), narrates harsh details of the farmers’ attempts during the war, as the prices of agriculture, pesticides and medicines increased to twice their real price with a constant fear of raid and bombing.
“Agriculture in the war is very expensive, and the drugs we buy more than 3 times it and some of them reach 10 times, as well as the scarcity of water that we provide through solar power panels, which are not when the sky shines with clouds.”
The farmer, Muhammad Baqar, says about the “agricultural basket” in Gaza: “We (we) export vegetables to the Arab countries, and Gaza was an important Arab food basket and strawberry is classified as the best Arab world, and Gaza’s production was abundant, as it was soil and atmosphere that helps in producing vegetables.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ozjhvrpnw
Steadfast
He hopes to oppress the revival of the agricultural dunums that the occupation washed away and destroyed during the war, saying: “We are our soul in this earth, and we will do all our effort to grow it despite all the difficulties and challenges, and we will plant every inch in Rafah.”
He added: “Israel at the beginning of the war.
