Israeli pesticide planes spray, damage Gazan lands

PIC reported:

Israeli pesticide planes have sprayed chemicals on Gazans' fields adjacent to the eastern border fence causing vast damage in tens of acres of "beans, spinach and wheat" crops, which resulted in big losses to the farmers.

For the second year in a row, the Israeli occupation repeated the practice of using agricultural aircraft to kill agricultural crops on the border area in between the "Tiger Gate" and the "Kissufim" site the largest Israeli site on the east borders of the Gaza Strip.

The area of the Palestinian agricultural lands affected by the spraying of pesticides is estimated at approximately 1500 acres, mostly planted with winter crops and grains.

Among the farmers of the affected lands is Hossam Abu Muhareb who had sadly watched the Israeli planes kill his crops.

Dozens of meters away from the border wire, farm workers tried to reap what have survived and is suitable for sale and eating after the Israeli aerial spraying of the agricultural pesticides, without prior warning, had damaged the entire field.

Israeli pesticide planes have damaged Abu-Muhareb's crops, consisting of 12 acres of spinach and 6 acres of beans; the loss of his plants increased his previous losses since the Israeli war on Gaza during which the occupation had destroyed his home and plantations.

Abu-Muhareb told the PIC reporter that some traders wanted to buy his bean crop and "they agreed to pay 13 thousand shekels, but when they saw the plant leaves' color turned to yellow because of the pesticides they refused to buy it. I will now cut the leaves, and try to find the unaffected fruits of the beans. They destroyed everything, even the potatoes which I planted 600 meters away".

Targeted area
Farmer Ayman Abu-Muhareb had also lost his beans and squash crop that are planted over 15 acres. The Israeli pesticides decimated also the wheat he planted for the first time for more than ten years, as he stopped planting his land because of the Israeli occupation forces’ (IOF) repeated bulldozing of areas near to the border.

Ayman tried, as did his colleague Hossam, to save his crops from the pesticides by spraying water on the plants but to no avail.

He said the IOF used to unleash their bulldozers to damage the crops, but now the Israeli planes exterminate everything green.

“Now I lost everything. In the last war on Gaza the IOF razed my house so I built a wooden house to live in, and I replanted my land and wished that the winter crop will improve my living conditions, but to no avail."

Nabil Joudeh, director of the Ministry of Agriculture in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza Strip, confirmed that the IOF had sprayed Palestinian crops with deadly pesticides a few days ago, and that it changes the types of pesticides each time. Those pesticides had destroyed the crops over 1500 dunums a few days ago.

He indicated that the Ministry of Agriculture is currently assessing the damage and will communicate with international institutions, especially the Red Cross, which recently funded agricultural projects in the area adjacent to the border, in which the lands has been abandoned for many years.

He told the PIC reporter that: "the loss affected all kinds of grains and all the winter crops, what happened in the border area is a disaster, and this is the first time the loss is this big."

The IOF did not respect the agreement signed with the international relief organizations, which gave a few weeks ago the Palestinian farmers permits to return to their abandoned lands in the border region. The IOF violated all past agreements only to destroy the farmers’ dreams and to inflict more losses on them.