Farmer Mohammad Rashad Abu Ezzar 30 years old checks up the land and plants of his family estimated at 40 dunums which was burned by the poisonous gas recently sprayed by Israeli planes on the border areas between the Gaza Strip and 1948 occupied Palestine.
Abo Ezzar spoke to the PIC of the devastation of their crops which is the only source of income for his family in light of the high rate of unemployment in the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian farmer moves among the bean and wheat plants full of sorrow filling his eyes. He feels like shouting out loud: “World what happened is a sin. These are God’s blessings for us to live and eat.” He appealed to the world to intervene in order to stop this crime against all agricultural lands.
A continuing crime
What happened with Abu Ezzar was not a new incident. For 16 years farmers on the eastern border of the Gaza Strip have been complaining about the destruction of their crops by the Israeli planes which spray ‘unknown’ poisons destroying their fertile lands of various crops.
According to Nizar al-Wahidi the Director of the General Department of Soil and Irrigation at the Ministry of Agriculture “More than 25000 acres are exposed to destruction annually because of being exposed to sprays by the Israeli planes.”
He noted: “This repeated Israeli action for years aims to destroy agricultural land and cut off the livelihood of their owners” warning that the danger of these poisons is that they do not have instant impact on crops until after a week or ten days.”
Complete destruction
The Ministry of Agriculture and farmers’ accounts of what happened are identical as these poisons lead to the complete destruction of crops and the destruction of vast agricultural areas. “They only could grow plants again in their land after the end of the impact of the poison in at least a year time which exposes farmers to heavy losses” says al-Wahidi.
The Israeli authorities began spraying chemicals without coordinating with any party in the Gaza Strip and without giving any notice to international institutions which pushed the Ministry of Agriculture to inform the Red Cross of what is happening. The Israeli authorities remain silent on the nature of these chemicals.
Al-Wahidi described what Israel is spraying at the border as ‘poisonous chemicals’ which affect the health of Palestinians only. “The occupation intends to hit the agriculture sector in the Gaza Strip impoverishing the farmers and starving them” he added.
Double danger
Al-Wahidi noted that the danger of Israeli spraying lies in the lack of knowledge of the Ministry of these chemicals and their components limiting the Ministry’s ability to provide guidance and advice to farmers on the border areas to take precautionary measures.
Al-Wahidi charged the Israeli authorities of spraying plants on the border areas to eradicate and destroy all agricultural crops at the pretext that they provide shelter for those who want to infiltrate into 1948 occupied territory. “This is not true and cannot be accepted. Plants planted on the border area do not exceed the height of half a meter and at maximum of one meter” Al-Wahidi concluded.
