Only 4.6% of Gaza's Cropland Remains Usable: UN Assessment
DaysofPal- A new United Nations assessment has revealed that just 4.6 percent of Gaza's cropland remains usable, as widespread destruction and access restrictions cripple the territory's food production system and push it closer to famine.
The analysis, conducted by the UN Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), paints a grim picture of the devastation. As of last month, more than 80 percent of Gaza's farmland — over 12,500 hectares — has been damaged, and nearly 78 percent is now inaccessible to farmers. That leaves only 688 hectares, or 4.6 percent of Gaza's cropland, available for cultivation.
The destruction extends beyond fields. The report also found that more than 70 percent of Gaza's greenhouses and nearly 83 percent of its agricultural wells have been damaged or destroyed, making local food production virtually impossible.
'This level of destruction is not just a loss of infrastructure — it is a collapse of Gaza's agri-food system and of lifelines,' said FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol.
She warned that what once sustained hundreds of thousands of people has now been reduced to ruins, adding that the road to recovery will require not just major investment but long-term international commitment.
The findings underscore the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has endured 19 months of war, mass displacement, and severe restrictions on humanitarian aid.
Earlier this month, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) released an analysis warning that all 2.1 million people in Gaza are now at critical risk of famine.
The FAO emphasized that without immediate restoration of farming infrastructure and access to land, the already dire food insecurity will continue to spiral, threatening the lives and livelihoods of an entire population.
Shortlink for this post: https://daysofpalestine.ps/?p=63277
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Days of Palestine
3 hours ago
- Days of Palestine
'Now, not tomorrow': Gaza hospitals plead for immediate blood units
DaysofPal- A severe lack of blood supplies and the increasing number of casualties are causing the Gaza Strip's healthcare system to collapse as a result of Israel's unrelenting attack. Medical professionals across Gaza have issued urgent appeals for the immediate entry of blood units and essential medical equipment, warning that patients are dying daily for lack of basic transfusion support. At the heart of the crisis is al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the largest and most severely impacted medical facility in the enclave. Its director, Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, described the situation as catastrophic. 'We are completely unable to provide blood units for the wounded and sick,' said Abu Salmiya. 'Young men and women come to us to donate blood, only to discover that they need blood transfusions due to severe malnutrition.' He stressed the devastating toll this shortage is taking: 'We are losing a large number of wounded people every day due to the lack of blood units, amid a continuous and massive influx of casualties every minute.' 'We are asking nothing from the world except for the immediate entry of blood units into the Gaza Strip … now, not tomorrow.' The situation is no better across other hospitals in the Strip. Sahar Ghanem, director of the Medical Laboratories and Blood Banks Department, reinforced the desperate need for both blood and the equipment necessary to test, store, and transport it. 'We are facing a shortage of blood bank supplies in all hospitals in the Gaza Strip,' Ghanem said. 'Malnutrition has had a significant impact on the number of blood donors, yet people continue to donate whatever they can.' However, the limited pool of donors, many of whom are themselves anemic, has forced hospitals to break international health protocols. 'We're collecting blood even from donors who don't meet the necessary criteria,' she revealed. 'That includes donors who are anemic, which is medically prohibited, but we have no other choice.' She noted that supplies are rapidly consumed across major facilities such as Nasser Medical Complex, Al-Shifa Hospital, and other hospitals still functioning under extreme conditions. Ghanem called for the urgent import of blood units, blood bags, and testing and storage equipment, adding that the health of the population must also be improved through aid and nutrition so that more people can safely donate blood. Abu Salmiya reiterated this call during an interview with Al Jazeera, highlighting that many lives were lost not from the severity of wounds but simply due to the inability to provide transfusions. As the health system in Gaza teeters on the brink of total collapse, the Ministry of Health in Gaza confirmed that among the many people in urgent need of blood were those injured in the recent Israeli massacre in Rafah. At Nasser Hospital, officials issued a call for citizens to donate blood around the clock, stating that the scale of the ongoing Israeli bombardment had caused the facility to nearly run out of blood supplies altogether. Shortlink for this post:
Days of Palestine
3 hours ago
- Days of Palestine
Human Rights Watch: Gaza War Puts Credibility of International Justice to the Test
DaysofPal – Milena Ansari, a legal researcher at Human Rights Watch, has asserted that the prolonged Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip—now exceeding 600 days—represents a defining test for the credibility of international justice, especially amid the global failure to stop what she described as 'acts amounting to genocide.' In an interview with Palestine Online, Ansari criticized the refusal of certain states, particularly the United States and Hungary, to enforce the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She described this inaction as 'a direct insult to the victims of these crimes' and a severe blow to the integrity of international accountability mechanisms. Ansari noted that Human Rights Watch and other organizations have documented Israel's use of starvation and the denial of medical access as weapons of war. By blocking the entry of essential supplies such as food, water, and medicine, she explained, the occupation has caused thousands of preventable deaths—especially among children, the elderly, and the chronically ill. She also condemned the surge in settler violence and the continued forced displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank, describing these actions as part of Israel's ongoing apartheid system and a deliberate policy of ethnic cleansing. Despite the grim circumstances, Ansari expressed cautious optimism over emerging legal and diplomatic developments. She welcomed moves by several European governments to reevaluate their political and military relations with Israel and urged international legal bodies to expand arrest warrants to include all officials involved in documented war crimes and crimes against humanity. She concluded by emphasizing that 'justice begins in the streets,' crediting grassroots activism and public pressure for influencing recent shifts in the stance of Western governments toward Israel's actions in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories. Shortlink for this post:
Days of Palestine
3 hours ago
- Days of Palestine
Guterres: Perpetrators of the Civilian Killings at Gaza Aid Center Must Be Held Accountable
DaysofPal-United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres stated that the Israeli occupation forces' gunfire at civilians near an aid distribution center in the southern Gaza Strip, which led to the martyrdom of 27 Palestinians, requires an independent investigation and accountability for the perpetrators. In a statement issued on Tuesday and reviewed by 'Sanad News Agency,' Guterres said it is unacceptable for civilians to lose their lives simply for seeking food, reiterating the call for an independent investigation into the incident. The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that 27 Palestinians were martyred by Israeli occupation fire on Tuesday morning, after thousands of people gathered in the Al-Alam area designated for aid distribution in the southern part of the Strip. The ministry added that the death toll is preliminary and that dozens were injured, some of them in critical condition. Shortlink for this post:
