Agriculture in the State of Palestine

Agriculture in Palestine plays a vital role in Palestine’s economy. It provides food for the population and contributes to exports. According to the Council for European Palestinian Relations, the agricultural sector employs about 13.4% of the workforce formally and 90% informally.During the late 2000s, rising unemployment made agriculture one of the poorest sectors, with joblessness in the Gaza Strip peaking at 41% in 2008. 
The World Bank reports that Palestinian agriculture faces challenges due to large areas of land being used for nature reserves, military zones, and Israeli settlements. Since much of the Israel–Palestine conflict centers around land, these disputes strongly affect Palestinian agriculture. 

History
After the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel l’s occupation of the West Bank initially encouraged agricultural growth. Under Moshe Dayan’s leadership, agricultural productivity rose by about 16% each year, and farmers were allowed to cultivate previously unused land. However, in 1976, policies shifted. By 1979, the new Likud government ended incentives for Palestinian farmers, viewing local agriculture as an obstacle to annexing unused land. Water quotas for Palestinian farms were gradually cut, forcing many farmers to abandon their fields and work as laborers in Israel. By 1985, cultivated land in the West Bank had fallen by 40%.Eyal Weizman,  Hollow Land: Israel's Architecture of Occupation, Verso Books 2012 p.120.

Trade also became more restricted. By 1984, Palestinian exports to Israel required licenses, and access to European markets was limited. Since Israel did not produce olive products, Palestine became dependent on Israeli goods while facing restrictions on its own exports. Palestinian agriculture also faced internal challenges: many farmers were sharecroppers, giving up to half their profits to landlords, middlemen took most of the earnings, and weak marketing systems further reduced farmers’ income. 
Gaza war
During the Gaza war, agriculture in the Gaza Strip suffered severe destruction due to Israeli bombings and attacks.  In June 2024, UNOSAT (the UN’s satellite imagery agency) reported that 57% of Gaza’s permanent crop fields had shown major declines in vegetation density and health.  The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) noted that this damage severely undermined Gaza’s food sovereignty. 
By July 28, 2025, Un data indicated that 86%—around 13,000 hectares (32,000 acres)—of Gaza’s farmland had been destroyed, leaving only about 1.5% usable by Palestinians. Before the war, agriculture made up roughly 10% of Gaza’s economy and was a vital source of income and food. FAO had already described Gaza’s agricultural situation as alarming in May 2020, warning that it was contributing to worsening famine conditions in the region. 
 References 

Palestine
Category:State of Palestine