ECOCIDE IN GAZA
The machinery of israel's genocide didn't stop at killing people - it also targeted the trees, the sea, and the air, An environmental genocide carried out by the occupation across Gaza over the past two years.
Two million people living amid 60 million tons of rubble - surrounded by a quarter million tons of scattered waste across 225 random sites, and tens of thousands of decomposing bodies buried within it.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), more than 2.3 million tons of Gaza's rubble are contaminated with asbestos the most severe environmental pollution since World War Il.
The vaporization of martyrs' bodies - unreachable by Gaza's civil defense and ambulance crews- has caused widespread respiratory and chest diseases. Their decomposition beneath the rubble has also led to severe contamination of the groundwater.
During the genocide and under siege,93% of Palestinian families lost access to safe water - after more than 75% of Gaza's wells and 120,000 meters of water networks in Gaza City alone were destroyed.
Even the salty seawater - once Gaza's last resort has not been spared from Israel's destruction. Every day, 130,000 cubic meters of sewage pour into the Mediterranean off Gaza's coast, contaminating its waters and marine life.
Environmental experts warn that gas emissions and toxic leaks from Gaza wil impact neighboring countries - raising temperatures, threatening water and food security , and spreading respiratory diseases.
While Israel destroys every living thing in Gaza, its army complained about using "too much plastic" - and decided to switch to reusable alternatives. A grotesque irony that wipes out decades of global environmental progress erased by Israel, with U.S. support, in just two years.
The UN says Gaza will need 80 years to recover. But Gazans insist: rebuilding won't take that long - if resources and equipment are allowed in, and if the rubble is recycled and used in place of the construction materials the occupation bans from entering.
Experiences from Sarajevo and Aleppo show that recycling rubble helps reduce pollution and dust, creates local job opportunities, and reuses the memory of a destroyed city in rebuilding it anew.
- Dr. Islam Al-Habeel, researcher in chemical and environmental engineering.
Gazans have the will - and the experience - to rebuild on their own terms. They have rebuilt their city before, under siege and through relentless wars.Our voices and determination stand with them - to keep pressing for open crossings, for aid and equipment to enter, and for Gaza to rise again.
Source:
Eye On Palestine, https://t.me/Eyeonpalestine2/22493?single, https://t.me/Eyeonpalestine2/22495?single