GAZA’S AGRICULTURE HARD-HIT BY $300,000 OF LOSSES

Gaza, 22 Rabiul Awal 1437/4 January 2016 (MINA) – The agriculture sector of the blockaded Gaza Strip sustained a staggering $300,000 of losses as a result of an Israeli air strike on agricultural structures at dawn Saturday, a Palestinian official reported.

Director of the Mechanical Testing Stations at the Ministry of Agriculture, Shaher al-Rifi, said the station has been bereaved of 70% of its operational power and sustained $300,000 of losses due to the Israeli strikes. The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Al-Rifi added that it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to replace the destroyed kit due to the tough siege imposed by the Israeli occupation army and the closure of border-crossings with Gaza.

He said the targeted station, which provides services for testing stations and agricultural nurseries, suffered the loss of a set of tractors and mechanisms used for agricultural and maintenance work. An electric generator was also damaged in the attack.

The official also denounced the Israeli bans on the entry of agricultural equipment into blockaded Gaza, saying such restrictions rather impinge the ministry’s work.

He called on the concerned authorities to rally round Gazans and help them get through the crises rocking the besieged enclave due to Israeli aggression, voicing hope that serious steps would be taken to help Gazans restore the damaged kit and rehabilitate the agricultural sector.

The strike is the latest in a series of Israeli violations of the Cairo-brokered truce deal struck in the wake of the 2014 offensive on the besieged coastal enclave. (T/P011/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)