"Within hours of the bulldozers' arrival on July 31, 2025, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees' seed multiplication facility lay in ruins - its propagation materials scattered, its infrastructure demolished, and with it, generations of Palestinian agricultural heritage reduced to rubble. What happened in Hebron fits the legal definition of ecocide - the deliberate destruction of ecosystems to undermine human survival."
"The Union of Agricultural Work Committees' seed facility housed over 70 baladi (heirloom) seed varieties, many of which no longer exist elsewhere, that Palestinian farmers had cultivated and perfected over centuries. These seeds - for rare, indigenous, hardy strains of tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini, and others collected from local farms in the West Bank and Gaza - weren't just any seeds. They were living libraries of Palestinian agricultural knowledge, carrying genetic traits for drought resistance, soil adaptation, and nutritional density that commercial varieties lack."
Israeli bulldozers destroyed Palestine's only surviving national seed bank in Hebron on July 31, 2025, demolishing propagation materials, infrastructure, and scattering heirloom seed collections. Over 70 baladi varieties—rare, indigenous strains of tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini, and others—were housed at the facility, many extinct elsewhere and bred over centuries for drought resistance, soil adaptation, and nutritional density. The attack fits the legal definition of ecocide and functions as a temporal weapon within a genocidal context by severing generational ties and undermining long-term recovery. The loss threatens Palestinian biodiversity, agricultural knowledge, and future food sovereignty.
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