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Gaza farmers stretch out an olive branch

October 23, 2017 at 4:15 pm

Palestinian worker picks ripe olives in Gaza [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Farmers in Gaza are now reaping the rewards of the olive harvest as the season begins.

A family affair, the harvest seems fathers and mothers working with their children and relatives to pick, gather and sort the olives they have grown.

The varieties range from Al-Sara, Ki 18 and Shamlali, from which olive oil is extracted.

Farmers care for the trees as they do their children’s education because of how sacred and important they are and how beneficial the oil that they produce is.

Read: Israel uproots 150 olive trees for ‘damaging view of nature reserve’

Most of this product is sent to olive mills to extract high quality olive oil.

Olive oil prices in the Gaza Strip have reduced this year because of the reduction in consumers’ purchasing power as a result of the ongoing Israeli siege.