The Palestinian ministry of agriculture has warned local people that the Israeli occupation authorities are going to spray pesticides along the Gaza border between 25 December and 5 January. The ministry’s statement was reported by a number of media outlets.

“This is an annual Israeli activity which takes place at the end of the year to get rid of unneeded grass in this farming strip along the border,” the General Director of the Ministry of Agriculture in Gaza, Younis Al-Zaytouniyeh, told Quds Press.

He noted that the Israeli pesticides have a negative effect on Palestinian crops. This sometimes causes huge losses for Palestinian farmers in the besieged territory. Last year, he explained, most of the crops near the border were damaged.

The office of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip informed the ministry of agriculture about the Israeli plan to spray the pesticides.