AhlulBayt News Agency: The Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority announced on Monday that the destruction caused by the Israeli war in Gaza has generated more than 60 million tons of rubble. This includes 4 million tons of hazardous waste, about 50,000 tons of asbestos, and nearly 100,000 tons of explosives and unexploded ordnance.
The Authority reported that the assault destroyed 80% of Gaza’s water and sewage systems, heavily polluted the coastal aquifer, and demolished more than 2,000 industrial facilities across the Strip.
The war also led to the creation of makeshift garbage dumps and the accumulation of over 700,000 tons of solid waste. Health landfills and medical waste treatment stations were destroyed, contaminating new areas, especially due to the mass displacement of civilians from northern Gaza to central and southern regions.
The Environmental Authority warned of large-scale leaks of chemicals, oils, solar cells, batteries, and asbestos into the soil and surface water, dangerously accelerating environmental collapse in the region.
In Gaza’s coastal areas, widespread pollution from sewage, explosive remnants, and toxic waste was documented. A marine zone between 700 to 1,000 meters offshore is now covered with gray and black slicks, reducing fishing grounds significantly.
Around 3,700 dunums of coastal and beach environments were destroyed, along with 50% of Wadi Gaza Nature Reserve, the only natural reserve in the territory.
The war also devastated vast agricultural lands, contaminating them with sewage, solid waste, and explosives. Military vehicles compacted the soil and destroyed its arable layers.
According to the Authority’s estimates, Israel’s assault wiped out 95% of Gaza’s crop production, 98% of fruit-bearing trees, and 89% of seasonal crops across the Strip.
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