Ahmed Saeed Khamis Hamdona in
front of the farmland that his family rents

Since 2007, Israeli authorities have
unilaterally and illegally established a so-called ‘buffer zone’ along the
border, which officially extends 300 metres into the Gaza Strip. However, in
reality, the ‘buffer zone’ can extend up to 1,500 metres from the
fence, and is enforced with the use of lethal force. This area includes approximately 35% of the Gaza
Strip’s agricultural land, which can only be accessed under high personal risk,
as Israeli attacks may result in the injury or death of civilians. This
seriously impacts the livelihoods of farmers who work in the border area.

Following the ceasefire agreement of 21 November
2012, it was reported that the people of Gaza
would be allowed to freely access the land in the border areas once more.
However, attacks against civilians in the border area have continued; since the
ceasefire came into effect, 4 Palestinian civilians have been killed, and a
further 71 civilians, including 16 children, have been injured. The lack of
clarity regarding access to the border area causes great uncertainty for
farmers. They are reluctant to invest time or money in their land, only to have
their work destroyed once more. More importantly, they risk attack by Israeli
forces.

Since 2005, Ahmed Saeed Khamis Hamdona (32) and
his family have been jointly renting 30 acres of farmland in Beit Lahia in the
northern part of the Gaza Strip, just 200 metres from the
border. Ahmed’s family have experienced many challenges while attempting to
farm the land, as he explains: “Farming on my land is too difficult because of
all the restrictions. We face problems accessing our land and even choosing
what we can grow. I can only sow strawberries and potatoes. I am not allowed to
plant olive or lemon trees as they are very bushy, and the Israeli forces want
this land to be clear so that they can watch what we are doing. We tried to
harvest watermelons before but they were shot at and destroyed.”

Ahmed’s family members ploughing
the farmland in order to sow potatoes

Ahmed and his family produce export-quality
strawberries but find it almost impossible to access foreign markets, as Ahmed explains:
“The association for strawberry farmers tries to get our produce across the
border for export. We hope to get better prices for the strawberries so we take
special care to ensure that our strawberries are good enough for export.
However, none of our strawberries have been exported since 2009. Every time,
the number of truckloads allowed for export is either reduced or cancelled
altogether. We cannot reach the markets across the border. I could earn around
15-20 NIS per kilogram for my strawberries if
they were exported but, because I have to sell them in Gaza,
I get only 4 NIS
per kilogram. This results in losses as we have to pay 50,000 NIS every year just to rent the land.”
Strawberry exports from Gaza
have sharply reduced since 2007; prior to the closure, 1,500 tonnes of strawberries
were exported annually but, by 2012, this amount had reduced dramatically to 357
tonnes.

Strawberries growing on
Ahmed’s farmland

This reduction of income has had negative
effects on the lives of Ahmed and his family but, even more seriously, the land
has been subjected to repeated attacks by Israeli forces: “Because of the war
in November last year, I faced many losses, as parts of my land were shelled.
This seriously damaged our crops. It took both time and money for us to make
our land harvestable again. We had to plant our crops all over again, as all
the strawberries and potatoes we had planted were destroyed.” Such disruptions
are not new to Ahmed: “After the 2009 war, the Israeli forces did not allow us
to work on the farmland in the afternoon. They shot at anyone who tried to
access the farmland. On some days, we could only work for two hours, because we
were too afraid to stay on our farmlands. We feared being the next targets.
This slowed down the entire farming process and we had to wait a long time to
be able to sell the produce in the markets. We used to be able to grow 20
tonnes of strawberries every year but this number went down to 3 tonnes since 2009.”

Ahmed, nonetheless, holds out hope for a better
future: “I am still hopeful because, since the violence ended in November, we
have been able to work on our lands for longer times, though not beyond the afternoon.
Still, I am not sure how long it will take for us to be able to get rid of all
our problems. I really hope that this closure ends and that we will have peace.
 We just want to be safe and be able to do
our job.”

The attacks on Ahmed’s, his family,
and the land that is their source of livelihood, are part of a larger pattern
of attacks carried out by the Israeli forces positioned on the border between
the Gaza Strip and Israel. The
closure of the Gaza Strip, enacted by Israel as a form of ‘economic
warfare,’ constitutes collective punishment, and is explicitly prohibited under
Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The closure regime also violates a
number of provisions of international law, including, the obligation under
Article 43 of the Hague Regulations to maintain the material conditions under
which the occupied population lives. Furthermore, the denial of farmers’
right to freedom of movement, which results in the lack of access to their source
of livelihood, violates these workers’ right to food, as well as various
employment rights, which are guaranteed under the Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights, in particular Article 6 and 7. The resultant poverty in the Gaza Strip and the foreign aid needed to
support the people in Gaza clearly demonstrate
that Israel’s
policy also violates its obligations under international human rights law to
ensure the progressive realization of economic, social and cultural rights in
the Gaza Strip.