The Ministry of Agriculture discuss with the Food Industries Union ways to protect dairy products and enhance the resilience of the agricultural sector

Ramallah: 13/4/2026

The Minister of Agriculture, Professor Riziq Slaimiya, discussed with the Federation of Food Industries, headed by Dr. Bassam Al-Walawil, during a meeting held today in his office at the Ministry of Agriculture headquarters in Ramallah and attended by the Undersecretary of the Economic Sector, Mr. Tareq Abu Laban, the challenges facing the agricultural sector. Foremost among these is the recent ban on the entry of Palestinian dairy products into the city of Jerusalem, and ways to address it within a unified national framework.

At the beginning of the meeting, Al-Walawil praised the Ministry of Agriculture’s swift response in convening the meeting, stressing the importance of unifying efforts and joint coordination to address this issue in a way that strengthens the protection of national products and the sustainability of agricultural production chains. He also emphasized the need to enhance partnership between the Ministry and the Federation to support agricultural investment and serve both the agricultural and economic sectors alike.

For his part, Minister Slaimiya pointed out that the occupation’s measures target the Palestinian presence through land seizure and the acceleration of settlement projects. In this context, he reviewed the confiscation of about 42,000 dunams in the Tubas governorate to pave a settlement road, and the resulting isolation of about 185,000 dunams behind it, including around 30,000 dunams of cultivated land growing key crops that form the backbone of Palestinian agriculture, such as potatoes, bananas, grapes, and vegetables warning of a real catastrophe for the agricultural sector.

The Minister also warned of new Israeli procedures related to inspecting Palestinian agricultural products at crossings, and the delays and spoilage they cause, in addition to smear campaigns targeting Palestinian products internally and externally, particularly contract farming, which negatively affects production chains and export operations.

Slaimiya stressed the need to intensify coordination with all relevant parties, emphasizing the importance of holding an expanded meeting that brings together the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Industry, the Standards and Metrology Institution, and the Federation of Food Industries, in order to take the necessary measures to confront these challenges and strengthen the resilience of the agricultural sector in the face of policies targeting the Palestinian land and people.