Jabalia: Miassar Khoudair, an apiarist, checks that her queen bee has survived five days of deadly cross-border fire between Palestinian militants and the Israeli army in a field close to the uneasy border of the Gaza Strip.
The 29-year-old spoke while wearing a protective white bee suit. "The bees die from the gases, the rockets, and the dust as a result of the war," he said. Khoudair has returned to her colony, which is only a few hundred metres from the border, in advance of World Bee Day on Saturday, which aims to increase awareness of these important pollinators.
Khoudair was unable to access the hives because of incoming Israeli airstrikes and Palestinian rocket fire during the most recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Gaza's militant groups. Three or four of the apiaries were destroyed.
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A flag of Islamic Jihad is flying in a nearby field beyond the grass and trees that surround Khoudair's beehives. Despite the risks, the farmland along the border provides some of the few places in Gaza's crowded urban environment that are suitable for beekeeping.
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She explained that they were always placed in border areas where there were lots of trees and wild plants and few structures or people living in close quarters. About 2.3 million people reside in the region, which has been under an Israeli-led blockade since Hamas seized power there in 2007.
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Up until a ceasefire on Saturday, there was no cross-border trade, and the fighting also reportedly destroyed 600 dunams (0.6 sq km) of crops. Beehives, poultry farms, and livestock suffered losses totaling $225,000, according to the media department of the Hamas-run government.
Daily life was disrupted by the conflict, and Khoudair was unable to sell honey at her shop in a normally busy mall in the heart of Gaza City. In addition to selling traditional eating honey, Khoudair also sells honey-based infusions to treat everything from concentration problems to infertility problems. She studied herbal medicine.
If the honey is top-notch, it is very treatable. She said, without going into further detail, "There are some mixtures added to the honey, and here it treats childbearing.
After completing her studies in honey and herbal medicine in Saudi Arabia, Khoudair launched her company a few months ago, according to her. When I visited Saudi Arabia, I discovered that they value and are interested in using honey as a supplement and a remedy.
Khoudair's bees give her a job because, according to the International Monetary Fund, Gaza has a 45 percent unemployment rate. "I rely on myself as a woman, and it's a very beneficial project," she said.
After inspecting her hives and getting a few stings on her hands, Khoudair stood next to her colony and pleaded with people outside of Gaza to "care about the bees' produce."
She spoke over the drone of her bees, "Honey was mentioned in the Holy Qur'an, we take it therapeutically, not just in a nutritional way, and it's healthy and strengthened with vitamins