Israeli crackdown has a devastating effect on Gaza farms

Hatem Shamali found it relatively easy for to continue working his Gaza farm in the period between last year’s Israeli offensive on the Strip and the ongoing Palestinian intifada that started in the occupied West Bank and expanded to the coastal enclave.

“It was quiet,” says the 48-year-old, “but I did not feel safe during that period because Israeli soldiers were patrolling near my farm and from time to time they would fire warning shots to tell farmers going close the border to turn back.”

“After the war, there were many shootings, but there were no causalities,” he says, “for us, the farmers, we got used to this system. When they shoot, we go back.”

A similar story is told by Ahmed Al-Dose, Ashour Badawi and Habib Shurrab. All of them work their farms on the Israeli border and say that there has been a kind of implicit agreement with the Israeli soldiers that they must not get too close to the border.

New measures

At the beginning of this month, the situation changed completely, the farmers told MEMO. As Palestinian youths started to gather at several points along the eastern Gaza border to protest Israeli violence in the West Bank, the situation has become dangerous.

“Three weeks ago, when the school boys started their protests along the borders, the situation changed,” Ashour Badawi said. “The Israeli soldiers shot at the boys in order to disperse them, but they shot indiscriminately towards them; therefore, we flee fearing to be hurt.”

Badawi described the situation of his farm like a “hit and run” scene. “When it is calm, we quickly rush to our farms, reform the plants, irrigate them and pick up the ripe vegetables,” he says. However, when there are clashes, the farmers do not dare approach their farms, preferring to remain safe.

“We always follow the news in order to know the latest regarding the situation on the border,” Badawi says, “if it is calm, we go to work, if not, we stay at home even if we know that there is an urgent need to work the plants.”

If the situation turns unsafe when the farmers are at their farms, they are obliged to leave. “It happened several times that we picked up our ripe vegetables and left them to rot in the farms because we are obliged to flee without taking them with us,” says Al-Dose.

Damaged crops

Badawi, who planted olive trees on his farm following last year’s war, said that he is afraid that one day he will arrive at his farm to find the all the new olives trees uprooted.

“In fact, I was afraid when I first planted them because, like all other farmers, our olive trees in the farms near the borders were uprooted several times and it became common among all of us that the Israeli soldiers do not allow us planting trees here,” he says.

“However, I felt it was safe after the war, so I decided to plant trees,” he adds, “but today, I feel that I am going to lose them.”

Israeli soldiers did not immediately uproot trees and copses following the start of the intifada, but Shurrab expects that they will do so soon should the tension escalate.

“Several of my crops were damaged because I was unable to irrigate the plants on time,” Shurrab says, “I also lost the vegetables I picked because I had to flee Israeli fire several times.”

“If the situation becomes more and more complex, I am afraid I will come to my farm one day to find everything damaged,” he added.

Far from the border

Abu-Haitham, whose farm is more than 1,000 metres from the border, says that he is worried about this year’s olive harvest. “I am far from the border, but when the situation heats up, I immediately leave,” he says.

He says that live bullets fired by Israelis soldiers arrive on his farm. “Three years ago, my niece was hit by a live bullet that came from close to the border,” says Abu-Haitham. “We considered that incident a warning for us. Now, whenever there are clashes, we immediately leave.”

The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that 57 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis since the beginning of October; 17 in the Gaza Strip and 40 in the West Bank, Jerusalem and occupied Palestine.

Around 5,000 Palestinians have been wounded in the recent fighting, many by rubber bullets. At least 800 Gazans have also been wounded, including 369 hit by live bullets.

Images by MEMO correspondence Motasem A Dalloul.

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