ReGrow Israel: Raising Funds for Israel’s Farming Communities Targeted in Hamas Attacks

On October 7th, 2023, Hamas attacked communities that supply 70 percent of Israel’s fresh produce and dairy were directly assaulted, leading to massive loss of life, food security, and labor.

A little background on Israeli agriculture; because of the constant conflict in the middle east, Israel’s food supply is self-sustaining. Because of this, there are designated farming communities. Many of them are nestled into the rich soils of south/west Israel, along the Gaza border.

Rachel Cone worked for the Montana Farm Bureau before immigrating to Israel in July of 2023. She is among a small team of volunteers advocating for Israeli farmers through ReGrow Israel, the Farmers Fund.

“We had we had folks from the team actually go down to some of these keep it seem that we're attacked, and and they got to see what had happened. And they made it very clear, and what we don't learn about in the news, is that agriculture was a was a specific and direct hit from Hamas. They saw in the fields how specific irrigation controls were the targets. All of these huge fields, nothing was touched. And then where there are points where the direction and flow of the irrigation is controlled through, those were blown up. You had tractors that were completely destroyed. You know, we know in agriculture that a tractor costs a lot of money, and it's supposed to last for a long time.”

ReGrow Israel’s Giving Week is from February 5th to the 9th, where you could hear from Israeli farmers over zoom alongside a jam-packed week of events. Go to regrowisrael.org, or visit our website for resource links. Join us next time to hear more about the devastation, and regrowth efforts, of the Israeli farming community.