UPDATE – Palestine relies on Turkish agricultural products amid instability in Red Sea

UPDATES WITH VIEWS OF PALESTINIAN FARMERS

By Mehmet Nuri Ucar and Qais Omar Darwesh Omar

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Palestine relies heavily on Turkish products specialized in fertilizers and agricultural pesticides, according to a Palestinian official and farmers.

Türkiye ranks third after China and Israel in terms of importing products to Palestine, a member of the Palestine Industrial Federation Board of Directors, Mohammed Abidin, told Anadolu.

Abidin said that among the products his country imports from the rest of the world via Israel, food and clothing are at the top of the list.

"Due to the occupation and the lack of control by the Palestinian Authority over ports and airports, all goods imported to Palestine reach through Israeli ports,” he explained.

“These ports levy a customs duty on goods imported on behalf of the Palestinian Authority," Abidin noted.

There has been a nearly 15% rise in products imported from Türkiye to Palestine since the attacks by Israel on Gaza started on Oct. 7.

Abidin said that one of the reasons for this increase is the Houthi attacks and violations targeting cargo ships passing through the Red Sea.

"Amid the instability in the Red Sea, Türkiye has become a quick solution for Palestine as well as a significant alternative for many materials and products imported from China," he added.

Palestinian farmer Mohammad Ebu Sabit hailed the high quality of Turkish fertilizers and agricultural pesticides.

Ebu Sabit, 49, has a five-acre farmland in the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank where he grows tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchinis.

"In the past 10 years, most Palestinian farmers have become dependent on Turkish fertilizers and pesticide varieties," he told Anadolu.

Mazen Abu Jeish, a farmer from the town of Beit Dajan, east of Nablus, recently started to use Turkish medicines and fertilizers in his own farm.

“The prices of Turkish fertilizers are affordable and with a good quality,” he said.

The Turkish pesticides “are a good alternative to Israeli products, which we must boycott,” he added.

Abu Jeish voiced hope to reduce taxes on Turkish fertilizers.

“I rely on Turkish fertilizers and products for almost 60% of my needs, and I aim to fully depend on them because Turkish goods have a good quality.”

Tamer Abu Ghneim, another farmer in the same town who owns plastic greenhouses, said he is now using Turkish fertilizers.

“The Turkish product is effective and strong against diseases for vegetable and fruit production, and its prices are low, suitable, and inexpensive for farmers,” he added.

The Palestinian farmer explained that when he uses Turkish fertilizers, he saves on costs and achieves good production instead of Israeli fertilizers.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack in early October by the Palestinian group, Hamas, killed less than 1,200 people.

Nearly 33,200 Palestinians have since been killed and almost 75,900 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which last week asked it to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.

* Writing by Zehra Nur Duz and Rania Abu Shamala