GAZA (Palestine Foundation Information Center)A United Nations report has revealed that less than 5% of Gaza’s agricultural land remains suitable for cultivation—compared to the levels before the war began in 2023.
Published on Monday, the report details the extensive destruction inflicted on agricultural areas due to ongoing Israeli bombardment, significantly worsening food insecurity and the risk of famine in the region.
Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), who co-authored the report in collaboration with the UN Satellite Center, stated that the scale of destruction goes beyond infrastructure loss and constitutes a collapse of Gaza’s agri-food system—its lifeline.
According to Bechdol, 95% of lands previously used to grow crops and olive groves have been either partially or completely destroyed as a result of the Israeli onslaught that began on 7 October 2023.
She also confirmed that over two-thirds of agricultural wells are no longer operational, resulting in a severe shortage of irrigation water.
Bechdol stressed that a ceasefire in Gaza would offer a critical opportunity to address the catastrophic food crisis through the delivery of emergency aid and the launch of early recovery efforts.
More than two million people in Gaza now require urgent assistance due to the collapse of agricultural production, she added.
Meanwhile, Antoine Renard, Country Director for the World Food Program (WFP) in Palestine, noted that the WFP has been able to operate 13 bakeries in the south of Gaza, provide hot meals, and distribute ready-to-eat food to displaced families in shelters.
In a related development, a UN damage assessment released earlier this month estimated that removing over 50 million tons of debris caused by the Israeli bombardment could take up to 21 years and cost approximately $1.2 billion.
According to the same assessment, the reconstruction of destroyed homes in Gaza may not be completed until at least the year 2040.
A UN Development Program (UNDP) official recently noted that the war has erased the developmental progress of 69 years in Gaza.
