STORY: Gazan man grows rooftop vegetables to feed starving neighbors
SHOOTING TIME: Recent footage
DATELINE: July 22, 2024
LENGTH: 00:04:37
LOCATION: GAZA, Palestine
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Yousuf Abu Rabea working on his rooftop farm
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): YOUSUF ABU RABEA, Palestinian farmer from Beit Lahia town
3. various of Yousuf Abu Rabea working on his rooftop farm
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): YOUSUF ABU RABEA, Palestinian farmer from Beit Lahia town
5. various of Yousuf Abu Rabea working on his rooftop farm

STORYLINE:

Mounting hunger risk in the Gaza Strip has pushed seasoned farmer Yousuf Abu Rabea to start a rooftop farm and prepare his war-damaged farmland against all odds.

"Vegetables, fruits, meat, and even canned food that used to reach us as humanitarian aid were out of stock at local markets," the 24-year-old man from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza told Xinhua.

His attempt is deemed high-stakes as unexpected aerial attacks, drought, and shortage of fertilizers under the strict Israeli blockade threaten to ruin all the work being done to produce vegetables to feed the starving neighborhood.

Palestinians displaced by the ongoing conflict have gotten used to life on the breadline. The tipping point for Yousuf to resume farming was knowing that his three neighbors had died of hunger.

Fearing that his family was heading for the same disaster, Yousuf started cleaning the roof to create his first patch of plants once the Israeli army allowed him and other displaced residents to return to their town.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): YOUSUF ABU RABEA, Palestinian farmer from Beit Lahia town
"We did not accept to submit to the army's demands to move to the south so as not to leave our lands and what we own in this land. We settled in this simple place amid destruction and rubble, especially since we were living very difficult days from November until February, as we lacked the most necessities of life, including water and food. My brother and I decided to return to agriculture, even if the farm was very little. The first thing we started with was planting on the destroyed roof with the simple seeds we found. After that, we expanded by producing more seeds. We cleaned the house and the yard and were able to retrieve some seeds, including peppers, and eggplants."

Challenges are many. Arable lands have been either ruined in attacks or occupied by tents sheltering the displaced. Sixty-three percent of permanent crop fields in Gaza have been damaged, UN statistics showed in July.

Worse yet, the besieged coastal enclave has been suffering from a lack of water. About 67 percent of water and sanitation facilities have been destroyed or damaged due to conflict-related activities, UN statistics showed in June.

Even viable seeds are scarce. Yousuf said he plowed through abandoned lands and managed to "collect seeds of green peppers, eggplants, watercress, and other fast-growing and easy-to-grow crops."

Yousuf and his brother then dried the seeds for two days before replanting them. Their first batch of vegetable seedlings was a success, which encouraged others to join and expand the scale.

"We are now preparing to plant some summer vegetables to ensure a minimum supply of agricultural products for our people," he said.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): YOUSUF ABU RABEA, Palestinian farmer from Beit Lahia town
"Currently, I am looking for seeds to be planted for August, September, and October. I work in post-production. When I took this path, there were two aspects, one positive and one negative. The positive side is that through agriculture we can save our people from famine. The negative side is that the lands we cultivate are targeted, and that we are displaced, or even could die. But until the last moment of my life, I will keep cultivating my land, no matter the circumstances. If I were killed, I am confident that my fellow farmers will complete my journey, because I want to help my people. I refuse to wait for and feed on humanitarian aid, as we are a people who do not get tired or bored and cannot surrender to any difficult circumstances."

Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023. The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 38,983, the Gaza-based health authorities said on Sunday.

Two million people, nearly the entire population of Gaza, are experiencing crisis levels of food insecurity, and malnutrition is on the rise, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on the social media platform X in late June.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Gaza, Palestine.
(XHTV)