Northern Israel’s agricultural heartland is facing unprecedented devastation, with a partial estimate of more than $108 million in physical damages reported as a result of the ongoing conflict, according to a recent report by the agriculture-focused nonprofit ReGrow Israel. 

From Oct. 8 until a ceasefire was declared at the end of last year, thousands of missile strikes destroyed key infrastructure, ignited massive fires and forced the abandonment of farms, leaving a deep impact on national food security, local livelihoods, and market stability, the study found.

“Everyone knows about the disaster of the south,” Danielle Abraham, executive director of ReGrow Israel, told eJewishPhilanthropy. “The damage in the south happened in one day on Oct. 7. The damage in the north is much larger, more complex, over a much larger area and probably higher damage, not only because of direct attacks and cyber attacks but also because of the longer exposure to war and abandonment.”

According to the report, northern Israel experienced 9,000 direct hits by missiles, rockets and drones, as well as more than 10 cyber attacks. Almost 100,000 acres of land were burned as a result. All of this, compounded by prolonged presences by Israeli military forces and disruptions to the local supply chain, created a situation of even greater complexity, Abraham said.

The estimated damages include some $75 million to replant dead orchards, more than $3 million to replant destroyed vineyards, approximately $7 million in damages to infrastructure and pastures for cattle herding and more than $23.5 million in damages to chicken coops in the poultry sector, according to the report.

Within six months of Hezbollah starting its attacks on northern Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, approximately 35,000 tons of fresh fruit and vegetables from the north were estimated to have been lost — accounting for 25%of total national food loss, the report noted. In addition, it said prices have surged in response, with vegetable prices rising 18% and fruit prices 12% in early 2024 compared to the previous year. In addition, more than 60% of surveyed farmers in the north reported damage to their farms, with a quarter ceasing operations entirely.

Abraham noted that the majority of the communities within the 0-6 mile range are agricultural, with 38 kibbutzim and 42 moshavim accounting for 76% of the 107 communities located along the border, while 10% of Israel’s agriculture is produced in the north.

“It is about their identity and their livelihood, and it is about national food security,” Abraham said, adding that the communities along the border also contribute to national security. “Most of the people who stayed behind in the north [after the area was evacuated] were farmers.”

ReGrow Israel launched a coordinated response in August 2024 and was formally asked by the Ministry of Agriculture in January 2025 to create a taskforce to tackle recovery efforts for northern agriculture. The organization has identified over 40 potential projects to rehabilitate critical sectors, particularly cattle, poultry, orchards and vineyards. These plans were developed in consultation with local farmers, experts, and government officials.

After the critical issues are taken care of, the second stage will be growing back agriculture stronger, Abraham said, and ReGrow Israel will begin to look at ways to make farming more profitable, resilient and sustainable, similar to what is being done in the south.

Abraham said the recently completed 41-page report has put some clarity on the complex situation in the north, and what needs to be done and where. The report, she said, is a “call to action.”

“In this moment the farmers really need us, but we mustn’t forget that we probably need them more,” Abraham said. “I hope this clarity will be most impactful and bring the support the farming communities in the north need. We saw how in the south in all the complex situation with the war, philanthropy took the lead and I think in northern agriculture philanthropy needs to take the lead too.”

In the short time since the report was released late last month, ReGrow Israel has received soft commitments from four different donors for $3.5 million, she noted.