Just 1.5% (232 ha) of Gaza’s cropland remains undamaged and accessible, a UN assessment shows.
Over 86% of farmland has been damaged since the war began, with much of the rest falling in ‘no-go’ zones.
FAO warns Gaza is on the brink of “full-scale famine” as food access, not availability, drives hunger.
Entire population faces crisis-level food insecurity, with local agrifood systems near total collapse.
Only 1.5 per cent or 232 hectares (ha) of cropland in the Gaza strip was not damaged and still accessible for cultivation for Palestinians, a new assessment by the United Nations (UN) has revealed, highlighting how the region has been pushed to the brink of famine.
The vast majority of Gaza’s agricultural land has been rendered unusable amid an ongoing war, with Israel damaging farmland and restricting aid to a territory where around 2 million people remain trapped.
A joint geospatial assessment by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN Satellite Centre (UNOSAT), based on the cropland dataset for 2023 (pre-conflict baselines), showed that as of July 28, 2025, 12,962 ha or 86.1 per cent of the total cropland in Gaza has been damaged.
Only 8.6 per cent (1,301 ha) of cropland in the Gaza Strip was still accessible, but out of that only 1.5 per cent (232 ha) was not damaged.
This is down from 4.6 per cent of cropland that was available for cultivation in April 2025.
Before the start of the conflict, agriculture accounted for approximately 10 per cent of Gaza’s economy, with more than 560,000 people relying entirely or partially on crop production, herding, or fishing for their livelihoods, according to the FAO.
Meanwhile, another 12.4 per cent of cropland (1,858 ha) was not damaged but was currently inaccessible, as it fell within ‘no-go’ zones and areas subject to evacuation orders, FAO said, adding that cropland in Rafah, North Gaza and nearly all cropland in the Gaza governorate was now completely out of reach.
“Gaza is now on the brink of a full-scale famine,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu.
Last week, the FAO highlighted how food consumption and nutrition indicators have reached their worst levels since the conflict began.
“People are starving not because food is unavailable, but because access is blocked, local agrifood systems have collapsed, and families can no longer sustain even the most basic livelihoods,” he said.
The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Alert highlighted that two out of the three famine thresholds have been breached in parts of the territory, with UN agencies warning that time is running out to mount a full-scale humanitarian response.
From May 11 to the end of September 2025, the entire territory has been classified as being in Emergency (IPC Phase 4), with the entire population expected to face crisis-level or worse acute food insecurity
“We urgently need safe and sustained humanitarian access and immediate support to restore local food production and livelihoods — this is the only way to prevent further loss of life. The right to food is a basic human right,” Dongyu urged.