Gaza's environmental apocalypse: What we have left is not soil, it's contaminated waste'

"The destruction in Gaza is visible from a distance: vast expanses of scorched earth have replaced the agricultural land, transforming it into a lunar landscape of deep craters and debris. But the real catastrophe is invisible, caused by what is seeping into the ground, polluting the water table and poisoning the air. Gaza's environmental systems have degraded to such a level that the government and scientific experts now talk about it in terms of ecocide."

"What has happened in Gaza is an environmental genocide, says Professor Abdel Fattah Abd Rabou, an environmental scientist at the Islamic University of Gaza. He speaks with the authority of someone who has spent decades studying the ecosystems that have now been destroyed. Abd Rabou has also buried five of his children, killed in Israeli air strikes in 2024. He himself has been displaced from the north to Deir al Balah, in the center of the Strip."

"The green of Gaza's landscape has been replaced by debris and dust. The water is poisoned. The air is polluted. The soil is toxic. The biodiversity that supported human life has been virtually wiped out. Israel's brutal response to the October 7, 2023 massacre of 1,200 of its citizens by Hamas who also took 251 Israelis hostage, has left more than 70,000 Palestinians dead and around 170,000 injured."

Vast expanses of scorched earth have replaced Gaza's agricultural land, creating a lunar landscape of deep craters and debris. Contaminants are seeping into the ground, polluting the water table and poisoning the air and soil. Gaza's environmental systems have degraded to such a level that government and scientific experts characterize the damage as ecocide and environmental genocide. Professor Abdel Fattah Abd Rabou reports decades of ecosystem destruction and personal loss, including five children killed in air strikes and his own displacement. The green landscape, biodiversity, and agricultural base have been virtually wiped out under millions of tons of rubble, while massive casualties, displacement, and restricted humanitarian access compound the crisis.

Read at english.elpais.com