Gaza Herald _Gaza’s Ministry of Agriculture said the territory’s agricultural sector has suffered extensive destruction during Israel’s ongoing genocide, leading to the near-total collapse of its productive infrastructure. The ministry reported that damage across most agricultural sectors has exceeded 85 percent.
In a statement released on Monday, the ministry estimated total agricultural losses at approximately $3.49 billion, including $1.90 billion in direct damage and $1.59 billion in indirect losses. It said the destruction has severely disrupted agricultural production and significantly worsened food insecurity across the Gaza Strip.
The ministry called on the international community, UN agencies, and donor organizations to urgently provide financial and technical support to restore Gaza’s agricultural sector, emphasizing that rebuilding its productive capacity is essential to improving food security.
According to the statement, the plant production sector has been particularly hard hit. About 158,909 dunams of farmland were damaged out of a total of 182,247 dunams, representing 87 percent of cultivated land. The losses have sharply reduced crop production and weakened the sector’s ability to supply food.
The ministry added that the war has brought Gaza’s agricultural irrigation system to the brink of collapse. Around 8,700 agricultural water wells have been put out of service, while 3,828 agricultural water reservoirs have been damaged and 1,371 kilometers of agricultural water pipelines have been destroyed.
Extensive damage has also affected agricultural infrastructure, including 93 plant nurseries—among them 50 horticultural nurseries and 33 vegetable nurseries—as well as 18 egg hatcheries and 134 agricultural cold storage facilities. Government agricultural centers, veterinary laboratories, research stations, water treatment facilities, and infrastructure supporting Gaza’s fishing sector have also sustained significant damage.
The ministry said the widespread destruction has left Gaza’s agricultural production system almost completely paralyzed, deepened food insecurity, and stripped thousands of families of their livelihoods, forcing an increasing number of residents to rely on humanitarian aid.
