HQ Team
August 19, 2026: In conflict-ridden Gaza, just 3% of cropland remains usable to grow food as Israeli troops pound the region with air strikes and shelling, limiting access to agricultural land and putting pressure on food security, according to the United Nations’ FAO.
Satellite images published on Tuesday in a news analysis from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UNOSAT, the UN Satellite Centre, indicate that 448 hectares of the shattered enclave’s farmland remains usable.
As of 24 June 2026, 4,091 hectares – 27% of the Gaza Strip’s cropland – remained accessible. However, only 448 hectares were both accessible and undamaged. The other 3,643 accessible hectares were damaged and would require rehabilitation before cultivation could resume, according to a statement from the FAO.
Since October 2025, accessible and undamaged cropland has fallen from 601 hectares to 448 hectares — a loss of 153 hectares, or 25.5%. Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis recorded the largest reductions.
The findings show that reduced access — not additional physical damage — has been the primary driver of dwindling agricultural land available for cultivation since October 2025.
Rafah
Rafah has the highest level of inaccessibility — 97.2 % of cropland and 98.4% of greenhouse area. The most extensive physical damage remains concentrated in North Gaza and Gaza governorates.
“This latest assessment paints a stark picture of the continued deterioration of Gaza’s agriculture sector,” said Rein Paulsen, Director of FAO’s Office of Emergencies and Resilience.
“The loss of access to farmland is further shrinking the space available for farmers to produce food, even where agricultural assets remain physically intact. Farmers in Gaza have shown time and again that when land and inputs are available, production is possible. But without urgent action to restore safe access and provide farmers with the support they need, opportunities to restore local food production will continue to diminish.”
The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and Israel, fought as part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflicts.
Attacks on Israel
The war began on 7 October 2023, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas led an attack on Israel, in which 1,195 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, and 251 were taken hostage. Since the start of the Israeli offensive that followed, over 73,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed and several studies in The Lancet indicate this figure is likely a significant undercount, according to Wikipedia.
Restrictions on the import and distribution of essential agricultural inputs are also hampering recovery. In addition to limited access to land, farmers face critical shortages of seeds, fertilisers, irrigation equipment, fuel and other production materials.
Livestock keepers also struggle to obtain feed, veterinary supplies and animal health services. FAO’s ability to import feed and other materials needed to protect and restock herds remains inconsistent. The limited agricultural inputs available in Gaza are often of declining quality and priced beyond the reach of farming households.
Before hostilities escalated in October 2023, agriculture accounted for about 10% of Gaza’s economy and supported the livelihoods of more than 560,000 people through crop production, livestock rearing and fishing.
‘Nothing is left’
For cucumber and tomato grower Taysir Dahdouh, the war between Hamas fighters and Israel sparked by Hamas’s deadly attacks in October 2023 has been marked by overwhelming loss.
“I had a good income before the war,” he said. “Suddenly, we were left with nothing…Even the steel frames of the greenhouses disappeared, along with our homes, belongings, and irrigation pipes. Nothing was left,” he was quoted as saying by the UN News.
After returning from displacement, Dahdouh tried to restore the land using basic tools, working with his family. “We managed to rehabilitate about one dunum (about one-tenth of a hectare) of our land to bring it back to life,” he explained.
Another Gaza farmer, Wajiha Dahdouh, highlighted other equally serious problems: “We came back to support ourselves and return to farming so we could survive. Unfortunately, there is not enough water, there are no fertilisers, no seeds, and none of the necessities that would allow people to continue their lives.”
‘Yellow Line’
Farmers in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis have seen the largest reductions in available land, according to the FAO.
This is primarily because of the “westward expansion” of the so-called ‘Yellow Line’ that separates the ceasefire zone from the Israel Defence Forces’ military-controlled area.
Rafah in the far south of Gaza has the highest levels of inaccessible cropland and greenhouse growing areas, at 97.2% and 98.4% respectively.
“The most extensive physical damage remains concentrated in North Gaza and Gaza governorates,” the agency noted. Most damage is in North Gaza and Gaza, satellite images from FAO showed.
The situation for Gazans remains dire. Just this weekend, UN partners reported multiple air strikes and incidents of shelling, gunfire and naval fire, primarily west of the Yellow Line, where most of Gaza’s 2.1 million people are now confined to an area less than half the size of the enclave.
