Gaza olive harvest sharply reduced as groves are destroyed or cut off by the "yellow line"

Mixed · 2Gaza's olive harvest this year is much smaller than before the war, with farmers reporting destroyed trees, inaccessible land and higher costs. 1 2 Centre · 1Many groves lie east of the "yellow line", the notional line to which the Israeli army withdrew under the first phase of US President Donald Trump's plan, in effect since a ceasefire on Oct. 10, 2025. Areas east of the line remain under Israeli army control, and Palestinians are allowed to move only west of it. 1 Right · 1Reuters, carried by the Straits Times, reported that the line is guarded by Israeli troops who bar Palestinians from entering two-thirds of the Strip. 2

Right · 1Farmer Haidar Abu Middain, 60, told Reuters that nearly half of his family's 900-dunum (220-acre) orchard in central Gaza lies beyond the line, and the accessible half has mostly been bulldozed. He said only 20 or 30 trees remain, which he expects to yield two drums of oil. 2 Centre · 1Kamel Baraka, a farmer from Deir al-Balah, told Anadolu that a tree that once gave about 100 kg of olives now gives 20 to 30 kg, a fall of 70% to 80%. He said farmers in Deir al-Balah, Bureij and Maghazi struggle to reach groves east of Salah al-Din Street and near the yellow line. 1 Right · 1Gaza's agriculture authorities, according to Reuters, estimate that only about 150,000 of 2 million olive trees are still standing. They expect about 5,000 tons of olives instead of the usual 40,000, and 700 tons of oil instead of 5,000. 2

Mixed · 2Costs have risen. Baraka said pressing now costs about three times its pre-war level, and farmers face shortages of fertilizer, irrigation water, labour and storage containers. Reuters reported that oil sells at about triple the pre-war price, nearly $500 a drum, which shopper Imad al-Ajrami said families cannot afford. 1 2 Right · 1Authorities say only seven olive presses are operating, down from about 40 before the war. Press owner Fawaz Zidan said they are barely functioning. 2 Right · 1Some harvesting continues in Deir al-Balah, which Israeli forces declared a safe zone during the war. There, the Khalil Mansi family picked olives, and labourer Ahmed Khader said he was grateful for a day's pay where the season once gave two or three months of work. 2

Centre · 1On the wider damage, Gaza's Agriculture Ministry estimated on July 13 that the war caused agricultural losses of more than $3 billion. It said 158,909 of 182,247 dunams of farmland (about 87%) were damaged. Anadolu also cited Palestinian figures of more than 74,000 Palestinians killed and over 175,000 injured. 1