Statement: Gaza's agriculture on the verge of collapse

Tuesday April 08, 2008 23:23 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

The Hamas-run Ministry of Agriculture warned on Tuesday of a likely complete halt of services that the ministry offers to the civilian population in Gaza, and that the population will likely suffer from a sharp shortage of basic commodities.

Map of Gaza Strip/ google images

Deputy-minister of agriculture, Ibrahim Al-Qedra, said in a statement faxed to the press that the fishing industry alone needs 20,000 liters of gasoline and 6,000 liters of Benzene, noting that the fishing season is focused on April and May

Al-Qedra stated that the lack of fuel has led to a complete stoppage of all agricultural equipment and that machines at local canning factories have already stopped working due to lack of fuel.

The Hamas ministerial official condemned also the Israeli army actions in the northern Gaza Strip , after the Israeli bulldozers had razed vast areas of arable lands there.

Currently, Israel allows very limited fuel shipments from Israel into the Gaza Strip, as the coastal region has already suffered a shortage of fuel supplies for the past five months, with Israel closing border crossings since June 2007 after Hamas's seizure of Gaza.

gaza strip | miscellaneous | news report rami at imemc dot org