How Israel commits ecocide in Gaza

CAIRO – 13 October 2024: One year on the nonstop Israeli war on the Gaza Strip. It wasn’t only a genocidal war that claimed lives of more than 41,000 people so far, but also an ecocide that turned the whole enclave unlivable.

Approximately 85,000 tons of explosives have been thrown on the Gaza strip, equivalent to the impact of five or six nuclear bombs. This devastation has severely harmed the region’s air quality, agriculture, water supply, irrigation, and marine life, with consequences that may last for hundreds of years.

The Palestinian Environmental NGOs Network (PENGON FoE Palestine) and Newcastle University in the UK have conducted a research study examining the extent of environmental destruction and the impact on essential resources following one year of ongoing Israeli aggression and ecocide in the Gaza Strip. This project is set to continue for three more years.

War impacts on agriculture and irrigation

For the agriculture field, the team observed intensive bombing, complete burning and deterioration of soil, and killing trees and deforming fruits. They additionally said that the temperature of the explosives which reach 2000°C killed the soil organism and ruining the soil fertility. So, they said the only requirement to heal what Israeli occupation destroyed is “replacement of soil top layers with organic and minerals rich soil in addition to intensive tillage.” Furthermore, they said that using the heavy machinery in bulldozing the land led to killing of the crop health and density.

In his speech at a webinar held by the Palestinian environmental NGOs and the Newcastle University, Dr. Hussam Najjar, from the War and Geos Research Team, PENGON FoE Palestine, in Gaza said that half of the area of the Gaza Strip is potential agricultural lands, with 174 square kilometers. However, the internal displacement of Gazans, who were forced to move to some arable lands near the coastal shores, put pressure on underground water consumption and that also made the nursery olive trees not to mitigate such pressures; in the end, they die, he said, adding that the team is still working on collecting more samples from the field from other different places across the strip, where no place is safe.

He continued that the team observed high percentage of copper and chromium elements in the soil due to the bombings.

As for the environment impacts of the war on the irrigation water salinity, the team documented an increase of salinity in the groundwater that reached 4,000 mg/l in areas where the internally displaced Palestinians take refugee like Almawasi area due to the excessive pumping of groundwater, which is the only available water source amid the ongoing Israeli blockade on the strip.

Impacts of the solid waste

One of the major health problem the Palestinians of the strip face is the solid waste, which has been pinpointed in more than 63 unregulated landfills across the strip, with 1.2 million tons of solid waste.

The team attributed the accumulation of this waste in unregulated landfills due to inaccessibility to the regular ones because of the Israeli forces, besides the complete collapse of the system of garbage collecting and processing. This collapse caused by “targeting of municipal garages, trucks and vehicles by the Israeli Army, coupled with the severe shortage of fuels, oils and spare parts needed to maintain vehicles due to the Israeli blockade.”

As a result, this accumulation of the landfills, which pile up near the refugee camps, impose a direct threat to the health of the displaced people, who are suffering from skin disease and hepatitis A, especially among more than 50% of children. “The situation is likely to worsen with the onset of winter and the potential for these pollutants to travel to nearby camps,” the team warned.

Wastewater is another environmental hazard as the team documented over 72 ponds of untreated wastewater, with 0.5 million cubic meters. This is because of the destruction of the several sewage collection points, cessation of pumping stations from operation due to the lack of maintenance or fuel shortage. Additionally, all wastewater treatment stations completely and partially were destroyed by Israeli occupation forces and, thus, stopped operating across the strip. As a result, severe floodings of wastewater occurred in three main treatment plants in East Gaza, leading to an accumulation of this water in lowland areas like Sheikh Radwan pond.

Unfortunately, this wastewater can go deep inside the groundwater aquafer in the Gaza Strip in areas designated as security zones by Israeli forces. The team monitored that 10,200 cubic meters of raw sewage trickle into the groundwater.

Regarding the water supply and pollution, the displaced people are being provided with no more than 3 liters of potable water daily per capita, the team revealed, noting that the only available resources for the potable water is from some seawater desalination plants and water coming from Israeli company Mekorot.

The water share of other purposes has been reduced from 80 to less than 20 liters per capita on daily basis. The team added that the resources of this water come from groundwater reservoirs through the municipal, agricultural, and private wells that are still operating.

The team also conducted this week 20 water samples from areas adjacent to the solid waste landfills in the central governorates and Khan Younis. The findings revealed serious contamination with fecal coliform bacteria due to the absence of treating the sewage water.

Mohamad Ebweini, a water expert from the War and Geos Research Team, PENGON FoE Palestine – in Gaza, said that the landfills that were designated for the solid waste before the war are no longer accessible due to the Israeli occupation. He noted that the toxic substances, sadly, go deep inside the groundwater.

Depleted Uranium

 The depleted uranium has quite long effects on the health and environment. Bahgat Jabbarin, from the Environment Quality Authority in Palestine and head of a research team investigating the impact of Israeli aggression on Gaza, has called for studies on the effects of depleted uranium used by Israeli occupation forces. He emphasized the need to trace the radioactive presence of depleted uranium deployed during previous conflicts in the region.

Jabbarin stated that the ongoing war has rendered Gaza unlivable, generating approximately 800,000 tons of construction debris. He added that over one year, Israel has thrown about 85,000 tons of explosives on the Gaza strip, which are equal to 5 or 6 nuclear bombs.

He also highlighted that every square meter of Gaza has been impacted by 120 kg of explosives, including uranium, phosphorus, and other hazardous chemicals. He warned that the pollution caused by the conflict will have far-reaching consequences, affecting not only the Gaza Strip but also the entire region and its neighboring countries.

Team at risk

In response to a question from Egypt Today on the safety of the field researchers when they collect the data and how they manage to get the samples despite the ongoing shelling and complete besiege on the strip, Mohamad Ebweini said that they were careful to collect samples to work within safe areas, adding “fortunately for us, our team was not exposed to injury, even though many of them were displaced from their places. What we examined were water samples, and we are waiting for the Rafah crossing to open to examine soil samples outside.”

The researchers managed to get samples from areas from which the Israeli soldiers withdrew, said Hussam Najjar. The researchers also got samples from Rafah before the Israeli forces invade it by ground to investigate the impact of the bombings on the environment there. Also, other samples have taken from areas where displaced people are taking refuge, he added.

Abeer Butmeh, coordinator of the Palestinian NGOs Network, stated that field researchers face constant risks while collecting samples, which also run the risk of being lost. To mitigate this, she added that they take backup samples and store them in multiple locations to ensure their preservation.