For the first time in five years, IDF is not spraying herbicide near Gaza

Published: 23 July 2019

Last updated: 4 March 2024

Change of policy comes as study that tracked drift of chemicals onto Gazan side shows Palestinian farmers’ livelihoods affected

Israeli army not spraying harmful herbicides at Gaza border for first time in five years (Haaretz)
AMIRA HASS: For the first time since 2014, so far this year the army hasn’t carried out aerial spraying of herbicides on the Gaza border. In previous years, the Defence Ministry leased planes several times every fall and spring to ensure that troops along the border had a good field of vision into the Strip and to make it harder for Gazans to cross the fence into Israel

Israeli spraying of herbicide near Gaza harming Palestinian crops (Guardian)
Israeli aircraft spraying herbicide beside the buffer zone along the Gaza strip is directly affecting the livelihoods of Palestinians in violation of international standards, a new report claims.

The study tracked the drift of the herbicides on to the Gazan side and concluded it was killing agricultural crops and causing “unpredictable and uncontrollable damage”, according to the report’s main researcher.

Photo: A Palestinian farmer loads grapes on a truck in the southern Gaza Strip, July 2 (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)