JERUSALEM, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Most Israeli farmers have suffered a certain level of damage from the country's ongoing conflict with Hamas, found an Israeli survey released on Thursday.
In its survey on how the conflict has impacted farmers in Israel, 89 percent of the 389 participating farmers reported experiencing some damages, and 96 percent anticipated further challenges in the upcoming three months, said the Galilee Research Institute (Migal) in northern Israel.
The main challenges include significant disruption to the agricultural workforce and marketing difficulties, according to Migal.
In addition, Israeli farmers in border regions said it is difficult for them to access their fields and sell their produce to the market, it said.
As a result, there has been an average decline of 35 percent in both production and income among the farmers due to the conflict, while near the Israel-Gaza border, the decline amounted to about 70 percent, it noted.
Hamas, the Palestinian ruler of the Gaza Strip, launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, which prompted Israel's retaliation by launching deadly bombings and a ground offensive in Gaza.
Adam Abramson, an agricultural economics researcher at Migal who initiated the survey, said that the responses confirmed that the ongoing conflict has a devastating impact on Israel's agriculture sector.
"Assuring such basic conditions will require out-of-the-box thinking and quick action from all involved," Abramson said. ■
