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'Our hearts burn': Gaza's olive farmers say Israel war destroys harvest

Since the start of the Israeli offensive on October $7,$ farmers have been unable to access their farmland and crops.

Samaher Abu Jameh is angry.

The mother of two has worked as a farmer with her parents since her childhood in the town of Abasan al$-$Kabira in southern Gaza, close to the border with Israel. $"$My land has olive trees and greenhouses planted with tomatoes and livestock," she says. She can no longer tend to those trees or tomatoes: The $40-$year$-$old was displaced with her family and is living in a United Nations$-$run school in the centre of Khan Younis due to near$-$continuous Israeli bombing since October $7.$

The months of October and November, when olives are harvested, hold special significance for Palestinians, who consider the harvest a national occasion that celebrates their relationship and connection with the land.

Farmers pick olives with their extended families and friends. Folk songs create a festive atmosphere. Meals are cooked and eaten under the trees. The olives are then pressed to extract olive oil, its quality depending on the climate and soil. But with Israel's latest war on Gaza, which began on October $7$ after the Hamas attlacks on southern Israel, farmers have been forced away from their land and homes, and the ever$-$present risks that they already faced because of their proximity to the border with Israel have multiplied dramatically.

Samaher says that some farmers tried to go back to their lands but were targeted by Israeli warplanes. $"$We are experiencing great suffering as farmers because these wars cost us greatly," she says. $"$We barely had time to catch our breath from the $2021$ war before this started."

Dangerous farming

Even before the war, the olive$-$picking season had increasingly been marred by violence. In the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers have been documented attacking Palestinians on their lands, stealing their olives and setting fire to their groves. Bilal Saleh, a Palestinian olive farmer, was shot dead by a settler in October while harvesting his crop near Nablus.

In the Gaza Strip, the challenges come from the Israeli military, which either targets and bombs farmland during times of war or sprays it with pesticides, killing crops and rendering the soil unsuitable for farming. Near the southern city of Khan Younis, the agricultural lands span an area of more than $4,000$ hectares $(9,884$ acres$)$ and lie east of the city around towns near the Israeli border fence: Khuza'a, Abasan al$-$Kabira, Abasan al$-$Jadida and Bani Suhaila. There are $7,000$ farms in the Khan Younis governorate, according to the Ministry of Agriculture in the Gaza Strip.

Ahmed Abu Rjeila, $40,$ is accustomed to dodging bullets. "I used to go to my land in Abasan al$-$Jadida with my three brothers despite the dangers that we faced every day from the Israeli occupation, who would shoot at us in order to leave," he says. Now, the risk is too high $-$ even though the prospect of losing his harvest worries him. He and his family were displaced from their home at the beginning of the war, and have been staying at one of the UN schools in Khan Younis.

"I have hundreds of olive trees, and my family and friends were supposed to pick them and sell them in the market or press them in olive mill machines," he says. He also has seasonal crops in greenhouses. "I spent thousands of shekels on this season, and there will be no returm on my investment if this war continues and my access to my land is denied."

Continuous bombing east of Khan Younis has resulted in the deaths of nearly $20$ farmers and injuries to others, according to the Ministry of Agriculture in Gaza.

Ahmed Qudeih, $37,$ is from the town of Khuza'a and owns $0\mathrm{.}6$ hectares $(1\mathrm{.}5$ acres$)$ of land, He says al the farmers have been forced from their homes and are now staying in different areas of the Khan Younis city centre:

$"$We are heartbroken over our crops, which we cannot reach," he says. $"$We can't irrigate or observe our land or take care of it$.$ After every devastating war, we pay thousands of shekels to ensure the quality of our crops and to make our soil suitable again for agriculture."

Being a farmer on a normal day in Gaza can be a life$-$threatening vocation, he says, adding that Israeli forces have got "creative in destroying farmers' businesses" by inflicting human, material and economic losses. "Over the past years, the land that I cultivate has been subjected to various types of violations from Israeli soldiers," he says. "I have been exposed several times to gunfire. The army has also bulldozed the land and sprayed the crops with pesticides to destroy them. "This caused me huge financial losses, but after each round of destruction, I return to prepare the land for cultivation again."

Last year, the Ministry of Agriculture determined that the area of land planted with olive trees in the Gaza Strip w