Gaza’s agricultural sector has been devastated, with a recent UN assessment revealing that only 4.6 per cent of the enclave’s arable land remains usable. The destruction of farmland, coupled with restrictions on the entry of aid lorries into the enclave, has pushed Gaza's entire population to the brink of famine.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation and the UN Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) report that more than 80 per cent of Gaza’s farmland has been damaged, and 77.8 per cent is inaccessible, leaving 688 hectares available for cultivation.
Israel’s military operations have severely impaired Gaza’s capacity for self-sustenance. Farms, orchards and greenhouses have been destroyed or rendered inaccessible, depriving Palestinians of food and livelihoods.
Before the current conflict began in October 2023, agriculture was important to Gaza’s economy and food security. Although Gaza was never fully self-sufficient, the sector contributed about 6 to 11 per cent of the GDP and employed a significant portion of the population.
Local farms supplied about 12 per cent of the average daily caloric intake per person, producing crops including citrus fruits, dates, olives and vegetables, according to a joint study by the Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Centre for Humanitarian Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
However, this lifeline has steadily been eroded. Remote sensing analyses by the UN Satellite Centre indicate a sharp decline in viable cropland: 8 per cent damaged by December 2023; 28 per cent by January 2024; 43 per cent by February 2024; and 57 per cent by May 2024.
Much of the remaining agricultural land has been bulldozed, bombed or lies in areas that farmers can no longer safely access. Geospatial imagery reveals the widespread degradation from above.
“This level of destruction is not just a loss of infrastructure – it is a collapse of Gaza’s agrifood system and of lifelines,” said Beth Bechdol, deputy director general of the Food and Agriculture Organisation.
International aid agencies have described the situation as a humanitarian catastrophe. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network and other hunger monitors warn that more than half a million people face catastrophic food insecurity.
The five pillars of Islam
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The%20specs
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
PAKISTAN SQUAD
Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali (test captain), Babar Azam (T20 captain), Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imran Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Kashif Bhatti, Shadab Khan and Yasir Shah.
The studios taking part (so far)
- Punch
- Vogue Fitness
- Sweat
- Bodytree Studio
- The Hot House
- The Room
- Inspire Sports (Ladies Only)
- Cryo
RESULTS
5pm: Rated Conditions (PA) Dh85,000 (Turf) 1,600m
Winner: AF Mouthirah, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: AF Alajaj, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Hawafez, Connor Beasley, Abubakar Daud
6.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Tair, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Wakeel W’Rsan, Richard Mullen, Jaci Wickham
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,400m
Winner: Son Of Normandy, Fernando Jara, Ahmad bin Harmash
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
