Palestinian farmers in Gaza reported that Israeli planes sprayed poisonous herbicides on their fields, devastating the farmers’ livelihoods and destroying their crops
Israel has started to spray Palestinian land with herbicides that destroy crops. The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture announced that it has no means of analyzing the unknown chemicals.
Nizar al-Wahidi, Director of Soil and Irrigation in the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture, said that Israeli planes were targeting the north of Gaza. "These chemicals cause crops to be wasted and damage the soil," Vahidi said, adding that the content is unknown and that the ministry does not have the means to investigate the content.
“Regardless of the content, Israel does not have the right to spray Palestinian crops,” Vahidi said.
Israeli human rights organization Gisha stated that Israel is aiming to destroy crops in order to better monitor the border.
On Tuesday last week, Palestinian farmers in Gaza reported that Israeli planes sprayed herbicides in the area of the fence that separates the Gaza Strip from Israel. The substance was carried by the wind and reached agricultural fields.
Using harmful means such as spraying from the air devastates farmers’ livelihoods and destroys the crops they grow with painstaking effort. The environmental or long and short-term health risks of exposure to the substances are unknown.
