FAO: Under 5% of Gaza Cropland Useable for Farming

Under five percent of Gaza's farmland is useable due to war, further exacerbating the risk of famine in the devastated Palestinian territory, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization said Monday.

By the end of April, more than 80 percent of the farmland was damaged and 77.8 percent was no longer accessible, leaving barely 4.6 percent of potentially arable land, according to a new satellite assessment released by FAO.

Some 688 hectares (1,700 acres) is all that remains for cultivation, according to the assessment.

The situation is particularly critical in southern Gaza's Rafah and in some northern areas, where nearly all cropland is not accessible.

"With cropland, greenhouses, and wells destroyed, local food production has ground to a halt," said Beth Bechdol, FAO deputy director-general.

Before the start of the war, agriculture accounted for approximately 10 percent of Gaza's economy, with more than 560,000 people relying at least partially on farming, herding or fishing, FAO said.