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Who is working in Palestine today, at what, and for how much.

The olive harvest, 2026

The season officially opened on 15 October. In Gaza most of the trees are gone. In the West Bank the trees stand, and the way to them is closed.

Olive harvest · reports of 6–14 Oct · 8 people

Gaza: the trees are gone

Farms near the “yellow line” and east of Salah al-Din Street are out of reach; fertiliser, water, labour and containers are short, and pressing costs about three times what it did.

Ahmed Khader, 38

Harvest day labourer; the season used to give him two or three months

Deir al-Balah

1 dayof harvest work this season

Reuters, 14 Oct

Kamel Baraka

Olive farmer working only the land he can still reach

Deir al-Balah

−70–80%yield per tree; pressing costs three times more

Middle East Monitor, 12 Oct

Mahmoud Dweima

Olive grower; every tree bulldozed

Shuja’iyya, Gaza City

$13–15ka year from oil before the war; nothing now

Mondoweiss, 6 Oct

Nasr Ouda

Olive-press owner; one production line rebuilt from the rubble

al-Zawayda

1 of 7press lines running again

Palestinian Information Center, 14 Oct

  • ~150,000

    of 2 million olive trees still standingGaza agriculture authorities via Reuters, Reuters, 14 Oct

  • 700 t

    of oil expected, instead of the usual 5,000Reuters, Reuters, 14 Oct

  • 9

    olive presses working, from 41 in 2022 (Reuters was told 7 of about 40)Gaza Ministry of Agriculture via Mondoweiss, Mondoweiss, 6 Oct

  • 22,000+

    daily work opportunities the season gave before the warGaza Ministry of Agriculture via Mondoweiss, Mondoweiss, 6 Oct

  • ₪45

    a kilo of olives in Khan Younis, on sale for the first time in three yearsPalestinian Information Center, Palestinian Information Center, 14 Oct

Ali Al Bazzari, 44

A farmer and father of four, killed on 7 October when settlers on tractors opened fire on farmers between Ramin and Burqa, near Nablus. His cousin says eight people were hurt, two by gunfire. The National, 14 Oct

He irrigated the tree with his blood.

Abdul Latif Al Bazzari, his cousin

West Bank: the way is closed

A man in a cap, seen from behind, picks olives from a branch with both hands.
Picking olives near Nablus (archive, date not recorded). Photo: Oday yaish, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. Not the farmers named.

Owners turned back from their own land, ID cards taken, harvests halted when settlers arrive. The closures, place by place

Abd al-Halim Mansour

Olive farmer with 500 trees, racing to pick them

Deir Istiya

₪64,000for the season’s oil, if he can pick it

The Times of Israel, 8 Oct

Hazem Sanaf, 61

Olive farmer; his trees were his only income

Beit Rima

400trees uprooted, his and his neighbour’s

Al Jazeera, 8 Oct

Fares al-Dik

Olive farmer who cannot reach his two plots

Kafr ad-Dik

4 yearswithout reaching his 550 trees

The Times of Israel, 8 Oct

  • 219

    settler attacks in the first 12 days of October; 136 tied to the harvestWall and Settlement Resistance Commission via WAFA, WAFA, 14 Oct

  • 109

    harvest-related incidents in 75 communities, 27 Sep–6 OctYesh Din via Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 8 Oct

  • ~50,000

    trees destroyed by settlers and soldiers this yearColonization and Wall Resistance Commission via Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 8 Oct

  • 737

    plots where coordination is required or Israelis are barred, 70 more than last yearIsraeli Civil Administration via The Times of Israel, The Times of Israel, 8 Oct

  • 100,000+

    families rely on the olive industryIsraeli Civil Administration via The Times of Israel, The Times of Israel, 8 Oct