‘Nothing is left’: The collapse of Gaza’s agricultural sector

October signals the start of Gaza’s olive harvest, a culturally significant season typically filled with celebrations.

This year, however, the harvest is all but wiped out as a year of conflict with Israel has ravaged trees; scattered unexploded, explosive weapons across groves; and left farmers without the essential resources they need to grow or harvest their fruits.

In fact, a staggering 86.2% of Gaza’s orchards and trees have been damaged over the past year, according to satellite images from the Food and Agriculture Organization and United Nations Satellite Centre. There are now only four functioning olive presses in Gaza today, compared to around 40 before the start of the conflict, Mahmoud Alsaqqa, Oxfam’s emergency food security and livelihood lead in Gaza, told Devex.