SHEIKH IJLEEN, Gaza Strip -- Omar al-Najar sat in the dirt and gazed mournfully at his grapevines, severed when Israeli Army bulldozers rolled on to his ancestral land and uprooted his plants and those of his neighbors.

"Sorry, my father. I have wasted the land," cried the Palestinian farmer, hitting his head with his both hands in sorrow over the loss of his crops on the Gaza Strip land which had been in his family for generations.

"My fields are 70 years old. Older than their fascist state," he said bitterly, referring to Israel.

More than 1,500 Palestinians and nearly 600 Israelis have been killed in nearly two years of violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation erupted after peace talks stalled.

Palestinian officials say life is becoming more difficult as people struggle to feed their families in an economy ravaged by conflict.

World Bank figures show more than 50 percent of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip survive in poverty on $2 a day.

Agriculture has been devastated. Palestinians say thousands of trees and groves have been uprooted in what the Israeli Army calls "engineering works" meant to deprive gunmen of cover.

Palestinian farmers say they are being subjected to collective punishment and are losing their livelihood founded on land passed down through generations.

Recently, five Israeli armored bulldozers entered Palestinian-ruled Sheikh Ijleen in Gaza and destroyed acres of olive trees, lemon trees and grapevines, residents said. The village is located near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim.

________ Farms Turned Into Battle Zones _______ Netzarim is surrounded by agricultural fields, making it an easy target for gunmen and attackers, the Israeli Army said.

In two years, 78 mortar shells, five anti-tank missiles, shooting, grenades and 50 explosive devices have been used to attack Netzarim, it said in a statement.

"Both civilians and soldiers have been victims of these attacks," it said, but did not give any casualty figures.

Video footage sent by Palestinian militants to international news agencies shows fighters firing mortars from farm areas.

In Sheikh Ijleen, villagers said they did not know of any attacks launched from their village or that any of the fields had been used as cover for shooting at Netzarim.

But they still get caught in the middle. Some farmers have deserted homes and fields. Others return only occasionally. "Sometimes we come to stay for a night or two. At other times we could only stay for a few hours," said 65-year-old Ahmed Al-Na'aizi. "It's a place of ghosts and extreme danger."

Na'aizi said he fainted when he saw his destroyed fields.

His wife, Sa'deya, said he was unable to bear the sight.

"The place used to look like a paradise," she said.

The bulldozers also wrecked a generator during the raid.

"There is no electricity any more. Water wells were blown up sometime ago and houses were demolished. They want us to leave," said Kamal Lafi. Most of his four-room house was demolished.

Palestinian human rights groups said Palestinian farmers have been killed while working in their fields in areas next to Netzarim and more than a dozen other Gaza Strip settlements.

____ "They Are Stealing Our Trees" _________ More than one million Palestinians live on 60 percent of the 360 square km (140 square miles) land in the Gaza Strip among about 7,000 settlers in settlements protected by army bases.

Agriculture represented 30 percent of Palestinian national income before the uprising against Israeli occupation began in September, 2000. Palestinian environment authority head Youssef abu Safiyah told Reuters it has fallen to seven percent.

"Israel's collective punishment did not only target people. It targeted their living, their trees and their animals."

An Agriculture Ministry survey showed $520 million in direct losses in the sector, including destroyed livestock herds.

Abu Safiyah said at least one million olive trees and 200,000 date trees have been uprooted in Gaza and the West Bank.

He accused Israel of stealing date trees and replanting them inside the Jewish state. The army did not comment on the charge. "The aim is to transfer people. When they raze the fields, destroy water wells and extract trees they are pushing people to leave because they have blocked doors to life in the area."

Palestinians are close to their land, considering farming and ownership as conferring honor and dignity.

Some say they prefer to die on their land than to abandon or sell it.

Many farmers said they have lost dozens of acres to settlements and in most cases the army handed them advance notice.

In some cases rights groups manage to procure a court order to stop army bulldozers from making more families homeless.

Na'aizi flew white flags over his house so it would be spared, but it was partly destroyed in the raid. "Don't white flags mean peace and surrender? I don't think they understand."