Um Mazen Subaih, 70, recalls that her family was preparing for a bountiful olive harvest on their land east of Gaza City when the Israeli war of annihilation began on October 7, 2023.
But from its very first days, the war prevented them from accessing their land. The family’s land and homes fell within the area known as the “yellow line,” making it impossible to return and harvest their crops.
Four Seasons
With four seasons passing without the family being able to harvest their olives, the loss was no longer limited to the harvest they had anticipated each year. Um Mazen lost her home, her land, and her livelihood. She was forced to flee and live in a tent, facing a daily struggle to secure basic necessities, after the land had provided a portion of her family’s needs and their annual income.
Umm Mazen says her family used to need five tins of local olive oil, along with forty pounds of green olives, to meet their needs. Now, she can’t even afford a liter of olive oil, having lost everything she owned and living on whatever she can spare amidst displacement and hardship.
She points out that olive oil and olives are no longer as readily available as they were before the war, and their absence has affected Gazan households, especially those of farmers whose lands are concentrated in the eastern areas of Gaza City, where orchards were once a source of both harvest and income.
Families who once relied on their land for their year’s sustenance now struggle to access their fields or purchase their produce, having lost their livelihoods and seen their purchasing power plummet.
According to Umm Mazen’s recollections of her family’s life before the war, the olive harvest was not merely a time for gathering fruit and securing food; it was also a significant annual source of income for landowners who sold a portion of their harvest. She explains that a single tin of oil used to sell for around 120 Jordanian dinars, a substantial sum at the time, enabling families to meet their needs and cover expenses throughout the year.
However, this cycle of livelihood was disrupted by the war.
