Director of Public Relations and Media at the Ministry of Agriculture in Gaza, Luay Rajab:

▪ The area planted with olives has decreased from about 50,000 dunums to 5,000 dunums, a decline of about 90%.

▪ The number of olive trees has shrunk from about 2 million trees to about 150,000 trees only.

▪ Olive fruit production has dropped from about 40,000 tons annually to about 5,000 tons currently, a decline of about 87.5%.

▪ Olive oil production has decreased from about 5,000 tons to 700 tons, while the self-sufficiency gap has reached about 85%.

▪ The number of olive presses has fallen from 40 to 7, and pressing lines have dropped from 68 to 15, while operational capacity has declined from 150 to 25 tons per hour.

▪ The number of pickling factories has fallen from 14 to 3, and their capacity has decreased from about 1,500 tons to 200 tons, while the number of production units has shrunk from 10 to one unit.

▪ The number of farmers linked to the olive sector has decreased from about 20,000 to only 1,000, and workers from nearly 3,000 to 200.

▪ The price of one kilogram of olive fruit has risen from about 5 shekels to 20 shekels, while the price of one tin of olive oil has increased from 500 to 1,500 shekels.

▪ The sector is facing a shortage of agricultural inputs and rising prices, in addition to difficulty in securing spare parts, oils, and diesel needed to operate and maintain the presses.

▪ Restarting the sector requires restoring an integrated system that includes land, trees, water, inputs, energy, maintenance, facilities, and markets.

▪ Rebuilding the olive sector needs an integrated program to rehabilitate land, trees, water sources, and to rehabilitate presses, pickling factories, and production units.

▪ Recovery requires returning farmers and workers to economic activity, supporting small establishments, restoring marketing and manufacturing channels, and providing the financing needed to restore the production cycle.

▪ Restoring the olive sector does not mean replanting trees only, but rather rebuilding a complete economic chain that starts from the land and the farm and extends to the press, the factory, the worker, and the market.