Fifty-year-old Mohammad al-Halabi bends over tomato and eggplant seedlings in a compact three-hundred-square-metre plot situated in the middle of central Gaza`s Nuseirat refugee camp. Carefully inspecting the leaves, watering the fragile plants, and monitoring their daily growth, he is attempting to reclaim his lifelong profession as a farmer alongside his father, Marwan, on their ancestral land in northern Gaza`s Jabalia. Al-Halabi previously owned a sprawling agricultural estate spanning approximately forty thousand square metres, where he successfully cultivated strawberries, tomatoes, flowers, potatoes, and eggplants with the dedicated assistance of his four children.
Al-Halabi recalls that his entire family livelihood collapsed in February twenty-four when military bulldozers systematically leveled his farmland during extensive operations in Jabalia, leaving the area covered in rubble and unexploded ordnance. Following his displacement to Nuseirat, al-Halabi refused to abandon his vocation, securing a small rented plot to cultivate whatever seeds and crops he could manage to acquire. While the modest plot produces only a few kilogrammes of fresh produce—barely enough for immediate household consumption and far too small for commercial distribution—watching the plants thrive provides him with a vital psychological connection to his agricultural roots.
Data compiled by Gaza`s Government Media Office highlights the staggering scale of devastation inflicted upon the enclave`s agricultural infrastructure. An overwhelming majority of Gaza`s productive farmland has sustained severe damage, alongside thousands of destroyed agricultural wells and livestock facilities. Greenhouses have been largely ruined, causing annual fruit and vegetable yields to plummet dramatically. Naser Deeb, director-general of agricultural extension at Gaza`s Ministry of Agriculture, notes that returning to cultivation requires massive structural rehabilitation, including repairing shattered irrigation networks, treating contaminated soil, and securing essential farming inputs. Despite these formidable obstacles, resilient farmers across Gaza continue striving to restore basic food production and reclaim their economic independence.
