The impact of COVID-19 on the agricultural in Gaza

“The epidemic is more difficult than the blockade,” this is what farmers in the eastern region of Khan Yunis, south Gaza Strip expressed during the emergency period in which they are living due to the spread of the COVID-19. Farmers used to go out of their homes every morning to collect their harvest and prepare for export abroad and sell it in the local markets, but the situation became different these seasons due to the complete closure that affected everything and the crops accumulated on the lands without a way to compensate what farmers have lost. More than 25 thousand farmers in all eastern regions of the Gaza Strip are waiting for the end of the Corona crisis, as the state of emergency began in Gaza in August which included the closure of border crossings between the Strip, Egypt, and the West Bank and the local markets. In addition to the disrupting of schools and institutions to prevent gatherings. Khaled Qudeih, a 34-year-old farmer, says, "Last season, crops were exported to the West Bank and sold as well in the local markets of the Gaza Strip, but the spread of the Coronavirus closed the crossing and there is no export abroad, so we are forced to sell the agricultural product for less than a third of its price in the local market." Khaled believes that the situation has become very difficult and that he will suffer great losses without the presence of authorities to compensate him for that.