NABLUS, Palestinian Territories — An outbreak of
foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in
the West Bank early this year has killed thousands of livestock, pushing
Palestinian farmers already living under occupation to the brink of bankruptcy.
اضافة اعلان
Mohammed Basheer
said he had to incinerate hundreds of his dead lambs after the outbreak
devastated livestock across the
West Bank, leaving him with more than just a
stinging financial loss.
For Basheer, the
ordeal underlines the unique challenges facing farmers in the occupied
Palestinian territory, who complain that they are underserved by the
Palestinian Authority (PA) and face constant threats from Jewish settlers.
“I got no help from
the PA, not even a telephone call,” Basheer, who owns thousands of livestock
near the city of
Nablus, told AFP, voicing frustration over what he described
as inaction from the Palestinian agriculture ministry.
Palestinian farmers
blamed the PA for halting the vaccinations program that had proven essential in
protecting livestock against the endemic disease. And with animals absent from
large stretches of grazing land, farmers fear land grabs from
Jewish settlers who have repeatedly set up illegal outposts on West Bank land they claim is
unused.
The PA “should
protect us because we protect the land,” Basheer said. “The farms protect the
land... If you remove the farmers, Israel takes the land.”
Farmers ‘destroyed’
A new strain of FMD, which causes potentially lethal fevers and blisters
in young animals, was detected in livestock last November in Jordan. It soon
spread across the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967, and
heavily reliant on agriculture. But the PA’s agriculture ministry has not
carried out a regular vaccination drive since 2019.
A ministry
official, who requested anonymity, told AFP that a normal year sees 60 to 70
percent of goats and sheep in the West Bank vaccinated against FMD. That figure
dropped to 20 percent in 2020 and 2021, the official said.
The ministry blamed
the coronavirus pandemic, saying FMD vaccines were harder to source as vaccine-makers
worldwide pivoted operations to meet demand for
COVID-19 jabs. The ministry
also blamed Israel, claiming it obstructed the PA from procuring sufficient
supply.
The Israeli defense
ministry body responsible for civil affairs in the Palestinian territories
(COGAT) told AFP that the allegation was false. “There has been no formal
request from the
Palestinian Authority for the import of such vaccines,” a
COGAT statement said. “Nonetheless, considering the health requirement that has
arisen, the State of Israel has transferred vaccine doses that were in its
possession to the Palestinian Authority.”
The Palestinian
ministry has officially confirmed around 2,000 animal deaths as a result of the
FMD strain this year. But farmers and the agriculture ministry official said
livestock deaths were likely far higher than the acknowledged toll.
Basheer said FMD losses had cost him $150,000 and
accused Israel of hoarding vaccines. “Our occupiers had continuous vaccines for
all farmers, but we haven’t had anything in three years,” he said. “They’ve
destroyed the farmers.”
‘Farmers can’t stand alone’
In the West Bank’s Area C, which remains under full Israeli control,
vacant agricultural land is a prime target for Jewish settlement expansion,
according to experts.
Eyal Hareuveni, a
researcher at the anti-settlement watchdog B’Tselem, told AFP that settler land
grabs are often backed by
Israel’s “twisted interpretation” of an Ottoman-era
law that says land not cultivated for three consecutive years can be claimed. “Israel
can designate this as state land and take it for their own use, even if it’s
land that is registered as private Palestinian land,” Hareuveni said.
More than 475,000
Jewish settlers live in the West Bank in communities widely regarded as illegal
under international law. Israel’s governing coalition has continued to approve
new settler homes across the territory, while acting sporadically against new
outposts.
With no new cases
detected since April, PA officials say the FMD outbreak is now under control.
Abbas Milhem, executive director of the Palestinian farmer’s
union, told AFP that by faltering on vaccinations, the PA had effectively given
a boost to the settler movement. “The real fight against occupation and
annexation is in the land, but the farmers can’t stand alone,” he said. “We
need some accountability for this.”
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