On Monday, human rights groups Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights in Gaza, Gisha Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement, and Adalah, wrote to senior officials with an urgent demand to refrain from conducting further aerial spraying of herbicides inside and near the Gaza Strip, due to the severe damage to crops and the risk to the health of Gaza residents caused by the spraying. On 4 December, the Israeli military sprayed herbicides from the air over areas inside the Gaza Strip and near the fence separating it from Israel. A variety of crops grown in fields near the fence inside the Gaza Strip were damaged as a result.
In December 2015, the military confirmed it uses planes to spray herbicides near the fence in order to clear terrain, with farmers reporting spraying since 2014.