In 1948, when Zionist forces expelled more than 750,000 Palestinians from the territory that would become Israel, the refugees didn’t just lose their homes. The victims of the Nakba were mainly farmers, and they left behind valuable agricultural land, worth up to $5.7 billion in today’s money. Israel and its settlers continue to terrorize West Bank Palestinian farmers, attacking their farms, confiscating their land, and controlling their access to water.

The West Bank agricultural sector entered a steep decline in 1967, when Israel’s occupation began. Before the Six-Day War, Palestine’s agricultural production was almost equal to Israel’s, and the West Bank exported 80% of its vegetables and 45% of its fruit. Under the occupation, it’s been impossible for Palestinians in the West Bank to maintain this level of productivity. Fertilizer is subject to import restrictions, and Israeli forces control 85% of water sources; if Palestinian farmers can get their hands on these key inputs, they must navigate a byzantine system of checkpoints to bring their produce to market. During the annual olive harvest — a $200 million staple of the West Bank economy — Palestinians must ask the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for permission to access their own land, ostensibly to protect them from settler violence. The most recent harvest, conducted under the shadow of war, saw an uptick in permit denials and settler attacks, resulting in serious losses for 50% of farmers.

Since Israel launched its assault on Gaza, it has also accelerated its confiscation of West Bank land: 2024 is already the worst year for land seizures on record. Yet these injustices pale in comparison to the carnage unfolding in the Gaza Strip. Israel’s decades-long blockade has left Gaza dependent on food imports and hindered the development of its agricultural sector, but Gazans still grew over 40% of their fruits and vegetables in 2022. After seven months of relentless bombing, the strip’s agricultural capacity is in ruins: the IDF has damaged or destroyed over 40% of its farmland, a large share of its greenhouses, two of its three desalination plants, and almost half of its water-supply infrastructure. By flooding tunnels with seawater and blanketing the land with wh