In a normal year the harvest would have started weeks earlier, but until the truce farmers were afraid of being mistaken for Hamas militants and targeted by Israeli forces if they ventured out into the olive groves. He said that normally they would harvest enough olives to fill 12 containers, but this year they would fill just one. There were other problems linked to the war, he said, such as a dearth of fuel to transport the olives to the nearest press. As soon as we secured access to fuel, we were able to open the olive press, even if it's working at minimum capacity." He said some farmers had found nothing, while others had harvested a fraction of what they would normally expect.

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Persons: Bassam Masoud, Saleh Salem, There's, Fathy Abu Salah, Abu Salah, Khan Younis, Sacks, jerry, Mohamed Wafy, Wafy, Fadi Shana, Estelle Shirbon, Rosalba O'Brien Locations: Saleh, Saleh Salem GAZA, Farmers, Gaza, Israel, Olives