Thousands of tonnes of Palestinian olive oil are missing from supermarket shelves around the world, from the Gulf and Europe to the US and Malaysia.
That is keenly felt by farmers in Palestine, where the olive tree, with deep roots that can go back centuries, is a symbol that many hold dear, including Kamal Mukarker.
His family own a large number of trees in Beit Jala, south of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank. For much of the 21st century, they lived off the proceeds from their production of olive oil, selling a large jar every two weeks. The connection is so strong that even his second name could come from the Arabic word for pruning olive trees, he told The National. It also means giggling.
This year there are neither many olives to prune nor many reasons to be happy. A lack of rain and disruption from settler violence mean this is the worst olive crop since 2009.
With the effects of the Gaza war and Israel’s occupation of the West Bank already hurting the economy, it is a devastating time for farmers, who are also being hit by natural forces. “Since the Gaza war, many people went back to agriculture, especially workers that used to work in Israel. Many people ended up cultivating their land because there’s no other source of income in the West Bank,” Mr Mukarker said.
“The problem during the last two years was the weather and the rainy season. They were disasters. The drop in production was more than 70 per cent.”
While weather is at the root of the problem, Israeli actions make things worse. When the nearby separation barrier between Israel and much of the West Bank was built, his family lost 30 per cent of their land.
Settlements in the area have been around for decades and expanded. Even more troublesome, new outposts have emerged – a common problem during the tenure of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest government, which prioritises settlement on Palestinian land.
“The harvest of last year was affected also because of settler violence. We lost twice," Mr Mukarker said. "The quality of the crop and the risk that harvesting such a bad crop entailed."
He said those two factors meant many people did not even bother to harvest in 2025.
Olive oil production across Palestine is just 33 per cent of the annual average, Fayyad Fayyad, chairman of the Palestinian Olive Oil Council, told The National, with only 7,000 tonnes produced last year.
At least 13,000 tonnes are needed for the West Bank market alone. About 4,000 tonnes normally go to the Gulf, with 1,000 tonnes sent to Jordan and 2,000 tonnes to the rest of the world. There is simply not enough for export.
That is a major problem for the Palestinian economy. Mr Fayyad said olive oil made up about 15 per cent of the revenue for Palestine’s agriculture sector every year.
“About 100,000 families benefit from the olive oil trade, each family is on average about 5.5 people so the effects are very significant,” he said. “There are about 70,000 grove-owning farmers, then there are about 30,000 families who benefit from the trade indirectly, whether by being transporters, workers or other roles.”
Like Mr Mukarker, Mr Fayyad put much of the blame on the weather, but he said that Israeli violence once again played a role.
“For 20 per cent of the season, settlers prevented farmers from picking, whether through violence or by preventing landowners from getting to their groves. More than 31,000 acres of land cannot be accessed by owners because of proximity to settlements.”
There is some hope. Both Mr Fayyad and Mr Mukarker said that a good amount of rain this year meant people are expecting a better season, which should begin around October. “Winter was excellent and the level of rain has been excellent,” Mr Fayyad said. “We’re hoping for a good to very good season."
Mr Mukarker said this year "is the question. We’ve noticed fruit on the trees but it’s still not time to harvest. The hope is that we’ll be able to harvest properly this year".
But in the West Bank today, with unprecedented violence and settlement expansion tearing across the region since the start of the Gaza war, good weather is not enough.
“We hope that many solidarity organisations will bring international volunteers,” Mr Mukarker added, referring to the increasingly dangerous work of activists who accompany Palestinian farmers to harvest their land. The face settler violence and are often attacked and detained by the military.
“We’re worried that with the war happening, many people will not come.”
