Less than 5 per cent of Gaza’s cropland can now be cultivated, further deteriorating food production and increasing the risk of famine, according to the latest geospatial assessment carried out by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT).
The UN body reported that as of April 2025, more than 80 percent of the Gaza Strip’s total cropland area has been damaged (12,537 hectares out of 15,053), while almost 78 percent is not accessible to farmers, leaving just 688 hectares (under 5 percent) available for cultivation.
“The situation is particularly critical in Rafah and in the northern governorates, where nearly all cropland is not accessible,” the report said.
FAO said they had used high-resolution satellite imagery in an assessment which found that 71.2 percent of the Gaza Strip’s greenhouses have been damaged. Rafah has suffered the highest increase in damaged greenhouses, the UN organisation said, up to 86.5 percent in April 2025, compared with 57.5 percent in December 2024.
Agricultural wells had also been widely damaged, with almost 83 percent of them damaged across the Gaza Strip, a figure that stood at around 67.7 percent in December 2024, the report said.
Before the start of the current conflict, triggered by Hamas’s brutal invasion of Israel on October 7th, agriculture accounted for approximately 10 percent of Gaza’s economy, with more than 560,000 people relying entirely or partially on crop production, herding, or fishing for their livelihoods.
“This level of destruction is not just a loss of infrastructure – it is a collapse of Gaza’s agrifood system and of lifelines. What once provided food, income, and stability for hundreds of thousands is now in ruins. With cropland, greenhouses, and wells destroyed, local food production has ground to a halt. Rebuilding will require massive investment—and a sustained commitment to restore both livelihoods and hope,” said Beth Bechdol, FAO Deputy Director-General.
Earlier this year, FAO estimated that the total value of damages and losses experienced by the agricultural sector in Gaza since hostilities began, in 2023, was over $2 billion ($835 million in damages, $1.3 billion in losses), with estimated recovery and reconstruction needs estimated at about $4.2 billion.
“With the breakdown of the ceasefire, these figures will undoubtedly have risen further, underlining the huge challenge of rebuilding the livelihoods of farmers, livestock owners and fishermen across the Gaza Strip,” the repot said.
The latest assessment from FAO and UNOSAT follows the release of a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, which warns that the entire population of the Gaza Strip – approximately 2.1 million people – is facing a critical risk of famine following 19 months of conflict, mass displacement, and severe restrictions on humanitarian aid.
According to the IPC report, between 1 April and 10 May 2025, 93 percent of the population, which translates to 1.95 million people, were classified in Crisis or worse (IPC Phase 3 or above), including 925,000 (44 percent) in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency) and 244,000 people, or 12 percent of the population, in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe). In Phase 5, the population is subject to catastrophic levels of food insecurity and faces starvation.
“Looking ahead, current projections are that 470,000 people (22 percent) will be in IPC Phase 5 from 11 May to the end of September 2025,” the report said.
Israel has said that claims of imminent famine in Gaza are overblown and insists that it has “facilitated the transfer of tens of thousands of aid trucks with enough food to provide for Gaza’s nutritional needs, and blamed the UN for not scaling up its logistics and distribution operations” according to the Times of Israel.