Farmer Enad approaches the yellow line in Gaza with caution, stopping at the point closest to his cultivated land. He interlaces his fingers nervously, afraid he will not be able to return to farming. While Israeli planes bombed Gaza and tanks swept through its cities during the war, Enad was busy cultivating his eight dunams of land, planting mallow, peppers, onions and aubergines, conscious that his labour would feed hungry people trapped in the territory. His hands were covered in mud when the Israeli army reached Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, forcing him to flee. Like other farmers, Enad has been unable to return to his land since then, as the yellow line has swallowed it up.
According to the 'Peace to Prosperity' plan, the Israeli army must withdraw from the centres of Gaza's cities to an imaginary border called the yellow line and redeploy along 53 per cent of the Strip's territory. However, as the ceasefire took effect, Tel Aviv began marking the truce line with hundreds of yellow-painted concrete blocks, preventing Palestinians from returning. This new positioning makes it almost impossible for farmers to access their agricultural lands behind the yellow line, as Israel controls a 65km stretch from Rafah to Beit Hanoun, varying in width from 300 to 1,000 metres, sometimes extending up to 1,500 metres.
Behind the yellow line lies about 60 per cent of the fertile agricultural land that used to be the breadbasket of Gaza. As Tel Aviv continues to control this area and refuses to withdraw despite entering the second phase of US President Donald Trump's plan, hopes of returning to farm are fading. Farmer Yassin told Independent Arabia: 'I own 17 dunams of agricultural land that is still under Israeli control inside the yellow line.' This land was an important source of food for Gazans, providing vegetables, grains and ripe fruit, and a source of livelihood for Yassin and his workers, but it has been turned into a military zone he cannot access.
Yassin left his land and abandoned farming, fearing Israel will seize it and incorporate it into new borders. 'The army destroyed my house, and bulldozers and tanks razed the land. For two years, I have been unable to access it to plant, farm and tend to it,' he said. He grieves the razed trees more than the ruins of his home: 'The house can be rebuilt in a few months, but the lemon, olive and grape trees need 20 years to bear fruit.' He added that the army's continued presence within the yellow line means the death of Gaza and the continuation of starvation and dependence on imports.
Farmers in Gaza fear they will not be able to return to their land, believing Israel does not intend to withdraw from the yellow line. IDF chief of staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir openly declared: 'The yellow line separating the areas under army control from the western areas of Gaza represents the new border line between Israel and the Strip. It is a forward defensive line for the communities and an offensive line.' Israel has thus turned the yellow line into a de facto border and refuses to withdraw to the red line marked in Trump's plan. This means the prospects for reviving agriculture are effectively over, and Gaza will never again be self-sufficient in food.
