Smoke emanating near the Gaza Strip. (Credit: Jack Guez/AFP)
Less than 5 percent of Gaza's agricultural land is now cultivable and/or accessible, further exacerbating the risk of famine in the devastated Palestinian territory, according to a new satellite report published Monday by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
By the end of April, more than 80 percent of the agricultural land was damaged and 77.8 percent was no longer accessible, leaving barely 4.6 percent of potentially cultivable areas (just 688 hectares), according to this geospatial analysis conducted with UNOSAT, the United Nations satellite center.
The situation "further undermines the food production capacity and exacerbates the risk of famine in the area," the FAO emphasizes in a statement. It is particularly critical in Rafah, in the south of the territory, and in the north, where "virtually" no agricultural land is accessible, the report adds.
After more than 19 months of war and two and a half months of international aid blockade by Israel, Palestinians in Gaza lack everything and famine threatens. The Israeli government, under international pressure, partially lifted the aid blockade last week, but it fell short of meeting the needs, according to humanitarian organizations. By the end of April, about 82.8 percent of agricultural-use wells were damaged (compared to 67.7 percent in December 2024).
"With the lands, greenhouses and wells destroyed, local food production has stopped ... This level of destruction is not just a loss of infrastructure – it is the collapse of Gaza's food system and what supported lives," emphasizes Beth Bechdol, deputy director-general of the FAO. Before the war began, agriculture accounted for about 10 percent of Gaza's economy, with more than 560,000 people (approximately a quarter of the population) living at least partially from crop production, livestock, or fishing, the organization adds.