Press Release
Israeli Forces Demolish Seed Multiplication Unit of UAWC’s Seed Bank in Hebron
An Assault on Food Sovereignty and Indigenous Seed Heritage
Hebron – 31 July 2025
In a grave escalation of its assault on Palestinian agricultural sovereignty, Israeli military forces
carried out a violent raid this morning targeting the Seed Multiplication Unit of the Union of
Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC)’s Seed Bank, located in the southern West Bank city of
Hebron.
Using bulldozers and heavy machinery, the Israeli army destroyed the storage warehouses and
infrastructure of the unit, where essential equipment, seed materials, and tools for indigenous seed
reproduction were kept. The destruction was carried out without warning, under military protection, and
constitutes a direct blow to Palestinian efforts to preserve local biodiversity and ensure food sovereignty.
This deliberate targeting of a civilian agricultural facility is a strategic attack on the very foundations of
Palestinian resilience. The Seed Bank has played a critical role in safeguarding traditional seed varieties
and empowering small-scale farmers through local seed reproduction and exchange.
The attack comes amid increasing settler violence, land grabs, and systemic efforts by the Israeli
occupation to dismantle the means of survival for Palestinian communities. Destroying a national seed
bank is an act of erasure, intended to sever the generational ties between farmers and their land.
We call on all international partners, human rights defenders, and solidarity movements to speak out
forcefully against this crime.
We urge immediate international intervention to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for its repeated
violations of agricultural, environmental, and human rights.
Attached is a video showing what happened.
https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=4245921642359880
Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC)
https://uawc-pal.org/
Palestine – 31 July 2025
Index page to resources of interest (on or off site)