About $2M direct daily losses in agricultural production in Gaza as a result of Israeli aggression on agricultural sector – PCBS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) issued a press release on the impact of the Israeli occupation aggression on the agricultural sector in the Gaza Strip, stating that there is about $2 million direct daily losses in agricultural production in Gaza as a result of the cessation of the agricultural production. The direct daily losses in agricultural production are estimated at about $1.6 million as a result of stalling production, and the value of losses is exacerbated when taking into account the destruction of agricultural property and assets and the bulldozing of land which will double the value of the total losses, said PCBS. Several reports issued about the Gaza Strip on the agricultural sector indicated that the total agricultural losses will exceed $180 million in light of the destruction of thousands of trees by the occupation during its recent aggression and the bulldozing of many agricultural areas, it added. PCBS said the agricultural sector represents one of the most important c omponents of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the Gaza Strip in addition to other productive sectors, through its contribution to the overall economy, in addition to the contribution of this sector in providing employment and alleviating unemployment, as the contribution of the agricultural sector to the GDP in Gaza Strip reached about 11% in 2022. It indicated the direct Israeli targeting and destruction of agricultural areas in northern Gaza, which constitute one-third of the area planted with field crops, vegetables, and horticulture gardening, adding that the cultivated areas in North Gaza are estimated at about 34,000 dunums, which have been bulldozed and destroyed, in addition to the unsuitability of most of them for agriculture due to the number of explosives dropped on them. The most impact of the recent Israeli occupation aggression on the agricultural sector in Gaza Strip was the leveling of agricultural areas cultivated with horticultural trees, especially olive trees, where the area of olive trees constitutes 63% of the total area cultivated with horticultural trees in Gaza Strip, which distributed as follows: 34% in Khan Yunis, 24% in Dier Al-Balah, 17% in North Gaza, 12% in Gaza and 13% in Rafah, it said It stressed that 44% of the Palestinian households have lost their sources of local agricultural production in the Gaza Strip used for household consumption. Source: Palestine news and Information Agency – WAFA – English