In the short term, Gaza is facing an upcoming agricultural disaster. Due to the continued conflict, just 1.5% of its farmland remains accessible and undamaged. The Israeli military has intentionally bombed agricultural land, worsening an already desperate state for the locale’s residents. For more than two million folks, these are just a few of the resources that remain painfully scarce. This devastation not only creates acute food insecurity, it harms the environment and undermines future productivity.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have been accused of employing tactics that not only destroy crops but contaminate essential resources. Testimony from frontline community members have implicated the illegal use of toxic white phosphorus and extensive soil and water contamination. Furthermore, Gaza’s wastewater treatment system has collapsed, compounding the humanitarian disaster and leaving residents with limited access to clean water.
Even before the current upsurge of violence, Gaza had a flourishing agricultural sector. Its surfeit of arable land, 40% of its territory, allowed it to be almost completely self-sufficient. This meant important crops like vegetables, fowl, olives, fruits, and dairy. The continuation of Israel’s blockade of food supplies and other actions has driven the region dangerously close to famine. Their own scorched-earth policy has driven the crisis even deeper. Today, just 200 hectares of irrigated land remain to feed a population of more than two million people.
As the landscape we know so well unravels, the destruction of olives trees, a key everyday symbol of Palestinian culture and economy, has deepened the crisis. Often called the “trees of life,” these ancient olive trees comprise 14% of the Palestinian economy. They serve as an indispensable means of making a living for many households. The IDF’s deliberate felling of these trees is seen as an effort to sever the connection between Palestinians and their land.
Further exacerbating the environmental impacts, flooding Hamas’s network of tunnels under Gaza with seawater endangers Gaza’s only source of freshwater, a coastal aquifer. Farming, which has sustained this community for generations, relies on its Ogallala Aquifer, the region’s main water source. Sadly, military operations are poisoning it, endangering its future effectiveness. Before the recent conflict, residents had access to about 85 liters of water per person per day—meeting the recommended minimum. As of February, this number has dropped to a mere 5.7 liters per person per day!
The IDF’s operations have more than doubled carbon emissions. This increase is attributed both to ongoing direct military actions as well as the immediate need for rebuilding efforts in Gaza. Shifting environmental conditions Environmental degradation is a stark reality across the region, alarming national and local experts and advocates. Mazin Qumsiyeh, a prominent Palestinian biologist, noted, “Environmental degradation is not incidental – it is intentional, protracted, and aimed at breaking the eco-sumud (ecological steadfastness) of the Palestinian people.”
As the war continues, the IDF has moved to expand the so-called “buffer zone” inside Gaza’s eastern border. This expansion is increasingly cutting into essential farmland. This action has not just cut off access to farmland, but cut off avenues for rebuilding after past devastation.
This agricultural crisis goes beyond increased food insecurity. It deeply endangers the public health and environmental sustainability of Gaza. Without swift action and continued investment, the legacy we leave in the long-term will be disastrous for generations yet unborn.