The Palestinian farmers must have unhindered and secure access to their groves, according to Muhannad Hadi, the UN's Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory on Gaza and the West Bank, who made this statement yesterday.
Speaking at the daily UN press briefing, Hadi expressed his worries over the impending olive harvest while accompanying development and humanitarian partners on a diplomatic visit to Kifl Haris village in the Salfit governorate.
He emphasized that around 10,000 hectares of olive orchards went unharvested the previous year, and that for Palestinians, the annual olive picked is a significant economic, social, and cultural event.
$750,000 has been allotted by the Humanitarian Coordinator from the Humanitarian Fund to support olive farmers this year.