Farmers in the Gaza Strip are taking advantage of the current ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to collect what remains of their olive harvest after weeks of fighting during which they did not go to their fields out of fear for their lives. In normal years, the harvest season would begin several weeks ago, but before the ceasefire took effect, farmers feared that Israeli forces might target them, mistaking them for Hamas fighters if they dared to go out to the olive groves. Some lands were damaged due to the fighting or the passage of military vehicles, while some farmers were displaced from their homes and could not return to their orchards.
Fathi Abu Salah, who was picking olives with the help of a few people and sorting them from leaves and branches on a blanket spread on the ground before putting them in a manually pulled cart, said, "The war destroyed the season." He added that in normal days, they would harvest enough olives to fill 12 containers, but this year they will fill only one container. He also pointed out other issues related to the war, such as the scarcity of fuel needed to transport the olives to the nearest mill. At the Wafi mill in Khan Younis, the operation of olive pressing machines was delayed for weeks. Farmers resorted to using donkey-drawn carts to bring sacks of olives to the mill.
