Gaza, November 14 (QNA) - Gaza's olive sector has suffered a staggering collapse, with cultivated areas shrinking by 90% and olive oil production falling by 86% during the 2026 harvest season, as the ongoing Israeli military campaign since 2023 has decimated the infrastructure of a sector that was once a bedrock of the local Palestinian economy and self-sufficiency.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture in the Gaza Strip, Raafat Asliya, told Qatar News Agency (QNA) that olive cultivation had fallen from around 50,000 dunums to just 5,000, while the number of olive trees had plunged from nearly two million to around 150,000.

For decades, olives in the Gaza Strip were far more than a seasonal crop. They represented an integrated value chain extending from farmers to workers, olive presses, pickling and processing factories, marketing and exports. The genocide brought about a sharp transformation, with 2026 figures laying bare a catastrophic decline that has taken its toll on production, employment and food security.

Asliya said the loss was particularly significant given the crop's weight in Gaza's agricultural sector. Olive trees once accounted for around 55% of the area devoted to tree cultivation and nearly 27% of the total area under plant production. Their decline poses a challenge that will extend for years to come, given the lengthy period trees need to reach economically viable production.

Olive fruit production has also plunged from around 40,000 tonnes a year - 35,000 tonnes for pressing and 5,000 tonnes for pickling - to no more than 5,000 tonnes currently, comprising 4,000 tonnes for pressing and 1,000 tonnes for pickling. The decline amounts to 87.5%, he highlighted.

The picture is even more dire in olive oil production, which has fallen from 5,000 tonnes to just around 700 tonnes. The sector has thus morphed from one of self-sufficiency into one facing a deficit and a food gap approaching 85%. Asliya stressed that the crisis is no longer confined to farmers' lost income, but directly affects food security and the Palestinian dietary pattern.

The damage has extended across the entire value chain, far beyond primary production. The number of olive presses has fallen from 40 to just seven, while pressing lines have dwindled from 68 to 15, vastly reducing operating capacity from 150 tonnes an hour to 25 tonnes. Pickling factories have shrunk from 14 to three, with their capacity falling from 1,500 tonnes to 200 tonnes. Manufacturing units have contracted from 10 to just one, while marketing and export operations have come to a halt.

The collapse has also taken a toll on the workforce and prices, Asliya noted, adding that the number of farmers associated with the sector has fallen from 20,000 to just 1,000, while the workforce has shrunk from 3,000 to around 200. Women's participation in harvesting, sorting and processing has also been affected. The imbalance between supply and demand has pushed the average price of a kilogram of olive fruit from five shekels to around 20 shekels (USD 7). The price of a tin of olive oil has jumped from 500 shekels to nearly 1,500 shekels (around USD 460).

For Nasser Odeh, owner of a group of olive presses, the destruction goes far beyond lost production. He described it as a direct targeting of Palestinian roots and identity. He told QNA that his olive press - which had seven production lines and a capacity of 15 tonnes an hour and held international quality certificates- had been targeted and completely destroyed.

From among the rubble and debris, a single production line was rebuilt and put into operation in central Gaza to serve what remains of the olive trees, which account for no more than 15% of the number that once existed in the territory, Odeh explained.

Odeh stressed that the olive tree represents the existence of the Palestinian people and their history on this land. He said the occupation had sought to erase the tree, along with the industries and specialized agricultural teams associated with it. The will to work and resilience, however, continue to challenge the destruction.

The human toll is equally stark. Hamdi Al Samouni, a farmer from Gaza City's eastern Zeitoun neighborhood, told QNA that he had been displaced at the beginning of the war, leaving behind an olive grove covering more than 20 dunums, with around 500 olive trees, two water wells, a livestock pen and family homes.

Al Samouni said when the family returned after military operations had stopped, they found nothing but a barren desert. The entire farm and its surroundings had been bulldozed, and the area had been turned into a military zone that was difficult to approach. And even the area's landmarks had changed completely, leaving the family unable to identify the boundaries of their land or find a single olive tree there.

Al Samouni recalled previous harvest seasons as a celebration and a source of livelihood and blessing for families. Each rattle of olives used to yield 600 grams of oil, with total production exceeding 80 tins in a single season. Families and workers would begin their day at dawn, gathering in warm social settings that continued into the night at the olive presses.

He said the family had now lost everything and was living in a tent that offered no protection from winter's cold or summer's heat, unable even to afford a single liter of oil.

These accounts from the ground are reflected in international warnings of an imminent agricultural catastrophe in Gaza. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said in a recent report that only around 3% of the Strip's open agricultural land - approximately 448 hectares - is both safely accessible and undamaged. Safe, accessible greenhouses cover no more than around 2,240 dunums, representing nearly 16% of the total greenhouse area in Gaza. (QNA)