“Farming was the only source of livelihood for these people. Food was one of the few things that they themselves were able to control.”

In 2013–2014, the Slovenian photographer Jošt Franko documented the life of the farmers who got sucked into the whirlpool of international conflict in the Gaza Strip. In 2007, Israel and Egypt began a blockade of the Gaza Strip to oppose the Hamas government. Restrictions were placed on the quantity and quality of products imported to the area. The blockade led to the collapse of the economy in Gaza. In 2014, the conflict escalated into a full-blown land war, as Israel attacked the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

Especially after the blockade had begun, Franko felt that it was important to highlight the plight of the farmers in Gaza. The farmers were forced to live and work at the midle of the conflict, so that they could feed their families and survive. They were trapped between the Israel army, the border fence, and the Palestinian militants.

Jošt Franko (born 1993) is a Slovenian photographer.

︎ Jošt Franko