Olive harvest under threat from settler attacks, Gaza war

After a year of relentless war, Gaza's olive harvest is set to suffer, while in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian farmers fear to tend their groves due to settler attacks. For generations, olive harvests have been central to Palestinian life and culture.

"We are happy that the olive season has started but we are afraid because we are in a state of war," said Rami Abu Asad, who owns a farm in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza.

Workers picking the olives by hand stay alert, listening for drones or warplanes that could bomb without warning. "But it is clearly evident (to Israeli forces) that we are workers and we do nothing else," he said. "The number of remaining olive trees is very small and the costs are very high," Asad added.


Jamal Abou Shaouish, an agricultural engineer, expects this year's harvest in Gaza to net just 15,000 tonnes, sharply down from around 40,000 tonnes in the years before the war.