Gaza, October 20 (QNA) - The agricultural sector has incurred staggering losses due to the methodical Israeli targeting and deliberate destruction of a massive portion of Gaza's agricultural capabilities, Spokesperson for Gaza's Ministry of Agriculture Muhammad Abu Odeh told Qatar News Agency on Monday.

He stressed that the devastation was ubiquitous, affecting all of Gaza's agricultural sector and spaces, as well as water wells, livestock, fisheries, dairy and poultry farms, and greenhouses.

Abu Odeh revealed that USD 2.8 billion represents the total preliminary losses of the agricultural sector in Gaza throughout two years of Israeli aggression and the deliberate and systematic targeting of all components of agriculture in the enclave.

He further explained that 94 percent of agricultural lands in the Strip were destroyed by the occupation out of a total of 178,000 dunums, and that 1,223 agricultural wells were rendered inoperative.

Abu Odeh stated that 93,000 dunums of vegetable-cultivated lands have shrunk to only 4,000 dunums, while approximately 85 percent of agricultural greenhouses, which used to produce vegetables for the residents of the enclave, were destroyed.

This led to a decline in vegetable production from about 405,000 tons annually to around 28,000 tons only, insufficient to meet the population's needs in the Gaza Strip amid the war and famine endured by the population, Abu Odeh continued.

He noted that 100 percent of the fisheries sector was affected due to the targeting by the Israeli occupation of fishing areas, followed by the destruction of fishermen’s equipment and boats, in addition to the detention or killing of anyone attempting to venture out to sea to practice their profession, amid the prohibition on fishermen from operating in the Gaza Sea throughout the period of onslaught.

Over a season has passed during the two-year-long war since the seasonal agricultural crops were planted, which incurred massive losses due to the deceleration of production caused by the Israeli methodical and intentional razing and decimation, especially the cultivars known in Gaza.

The Gaza Strip is being mired in unemployment following two years of the war of extermination that plagued all elements of life, with the unemployment rate in Palestine surging during the offensive in the West Bank and the Gaza enclave to reach 50 percent, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said in a report today.

The report added that the rate stands at 34 percent in the West Bank and 80 percent in the Gaza Strip, while the number of unemployed in Palestine reaches approximately 550,000.

The ceasefire deal between the Hamas movement and the Israeli occupation took effect last week following the Israeli occupation army's pullback from sites and populated areas in the enclave.

This was marked by the return of displaced people to the northern Strip as part of the first phase of US President Donald Trump's plan to end the war on Gaza. (QNA)