The Ecological Cost of Perpetual War: How Israel’s Conflicts Are Destroying the Local Environment

Behind every explosion, every military operation, every border clash, there is a silent victim—the environment. For Israel and its surrounding regions, decades of conflict have not only claimed lives and destroyed homes but have also quietly eroded the very ecosystems upon which this land depends. From the groundwater of the Gaza Strip to the farmlands of southern Lebanon, from the olive groves of the West Bank to the azure waters of the Mediterranean, the scars of war are everywhere.

The Gaza Strip: An Open Laboratory of Environmental Destruction

The Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority warned in a statement that the Gaza Strip is experiencing an unprecedented environmental catastrophe. The statement noted: “Since October 7, 2023, the Gaza Strip has transformed into an open laboratory of environmental destruction under the weight of daily bombardment.”

Land and Agriculture: From Breadbasket to Rubble

A report released by the United Nations Environment Programme in September 2025 revealed shocking data: as of May 2025, 97.1% of tree crops, 82.4% of annual crops, and 95.1% of shrub forests in the Gaza Strip had been destroyed. Once fertile farmland is now covered with rubble and toxic substances.

Approximately 81% of agricultural land has been destroyed by systematic bulldozing, heavy military vehicle movement, and sustained shelling. 67% of agricultural land has either been directly bombed or used as temporary military zones. Irrigation pipelines have been 80% damaged, greenhouses 70% damaged, cold storage facilities 95% damaged, and 85% of farmers have been forced to abandon agricultural production. Poultry farming has almost completely ceased.

Abeer Butmeh, coordinator of the Palestinian Civil Society Environmental Network, pointed out: “Even in the few areas not directly attacked, they are largely inaccessible due to evacuation orders. Israeli restrictions prevent Palestinians from reaching these lands, almost completely halting agricultural production.”

She added that Israel’s use of heavy metals and banned chemicals has long-term, often irreversible effects on agriculture. “We can see with the naked eye the impact of these chemicals on agricultural areas. Even when trees remain standing in the soil, we can see large numbers of trees drying up due to weapons and high soil salinity.”

Water Resources: Depletion and Poisoning of the Source of Life

Gaza’s water crisis has evolved from shortage to catastrophe. The UN Environment Programme reported that the war has severely damaged Gaza’s water infrastructure, increasing the risk of groundwater contamination and further reducing already limited water supplies.

As of April 2025, storage and pumping facility capacity had been reduced by 84%, with only 9 out of 54 facilities still operational. Only 84 of 214 seawater desalination units remained functional. Over 85% of water supply and sanitation infrastructure had been partially or completely destroyed, including all six major wastewater treatment plants being shut down.

Damage to water pipelines has led to a sharp decline in water supply. 91% of Gaza’s households face water shortages, with 65% of the population receiving only 3-5 liters of drinking and cooking water per person per day. Water prices have soared by over 400%, with the cost of 1,000 liters rising from 30 shekels in 2023 to approximately 160 shekels in 2024.

The collapse of the sewage system has brought even greater environmental disaster. 85% of sewage pumping stations (84 out of 73) and their pipeline networks have been destroyed, with over 6.5 million meters of sewage pipelines damaged. Untreated wastewater is discharged directly into the environment, seeping into groundwater aquifers and flowing into the Mediterranean Sea. Approximately 130,000 cubic meters of raw sewage are dumped into the sea daily.

Mazin Qumsiyeh, Director of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University, warned: “The aquifers are no longer functioning… they may not even be repairable.” Leslie Joseph, Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering Research at the University of South Carolina, added: “There is currently no wastewater treatment. Raw sewage is pumped or dumped into the Mediterranean. Sewage flows along the streets because no one is treating it, there’s no way to treat it, no way to collect it.”

The direct consequences of pollution are already evident in public health data: diarrhea cases have increased 36-fold, hepatitis A cases have surged 384-fold, and polio has reemerged after years of eradication.

Marine Ecology: The Mediterranean’s Biodiversity Grave

The discharge of untreated wastewater into the Mediterranean Sea has had devastating effects on marine ecosystems. Bacterial and E. coli levels in seawater are 40-60 times the World Health Organization limits.

During the 2024-2025 fishing season, catchable fish species dropped from 35 to 9, fish stocks declined by 50%, and 18,000 people who depended on fishing lost their livelihoods. Algal blooms have appeared along Gaza’s coast due to disrupted seawater salinity balance and oxygen levels, with 88% of seagrass and 90% of shellfish destroyed.

Approximately 700,000 tons of rubble, 30,000 tons of metal waste, and oil residues have accumulated along the coastline, altering coastal morphology and accelerating erosion. Some coastal areas have retreated by up to 100 meters.

Rubble and Toxic Waste: A 60-Million-Ton Tumor

By 2025, accumulated rubble in the Gaza Strip totaled approximately 60 million tons—20 times the amount of rubble from all conflicts between 2008 and 2022 combined. This equates to 170,000 tons of碎石 piled onto every square kilometer of Gaza.

Even more concerning is the composition of this rubble: the UN Environment Programme found that 11% contains asbestos, 8% contains heavy metals and toxic paint residues, and 3% contains burnt plastic and chemical waste. Additionally, there are about 100,000 tons of explosives, with destructive power equivalent to nine nuclear bombs.

90% of the waste collection system has collapsed, with approximately 100,000 tons of medical, food, and chemical waste abandoned in uncontrolled open areas. Due to limited processing capacity, authorities have resorted to burning some waste, resulting in fine particulate matter concentrations in the air 6-8 times higher than normal levels, and in some areas reaching 60-100 times WHO limits.

“People describe it as the smell of death there,” Joseph said.

Carbon Emissions: War’s Global Climate Bill

The carbon footprint of the Gaza war is equally staggering. A study submitted to the Social Science Research Network by researchers found that greenhouse gas emissions from Israel’s attacks on Gaza exceeded the annual emissions of more than 102 countries.

The study estimated that the long-term climate cost of destroying Gaza, clearing rubble, and rebuilding the region would reach 31 million tons of carbon dioxide. Approximately 20% comes from Israel’s surveillance and bombing operations, as well as fuel consumed by tanks and military vehicles. About 30% of emissions came from the United States—which shipped 50,000 tons of weapons and other military supplies to Israel.

The largest climate cost will come from rebuilding Gaza—clearing rubble and reconstructing approximately 436,000 housing units, 700 schools, mosques, government offices, roads, and other infrastructure will generate about 29.4 million tons of greenhouse gases, equivalent to Afghanistan’s total carbon emissions in 2023.

The West Bank: Settlement Expansion and Systemic Pollution

Compared to the intense destruction in Gaza, environmental damage in the West Bank is more insidious but equally persistent. The Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority noted that Israel continues to launch attacks in the West Bank, bulldozing and occupying land (especially farmland), expanding settlements, and conducting military exercises within nature reserves and protected areas, leading to soil degradation, air and water pollution, and groundwater depletion.

The unequal consumption of water by settlers is particularly alarming—Israeli settlers consume more than 13 times the water of Palestinians, while the occupation authorities control all reservoirs in the West Bank basin, which has an annual storage capacity of 750 million cubic meters, directly threatening food security.

Northern areas of the West Bank, particularly Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps, have suffered repeated invasions, leading to large-scale destruction of environmental infrastructure, including sewage, water supply, and road networks. Over 3.3 kilometers of sewage pipelines and 21.4 kilometers of water pipelines were destroyed in Jenin, and 8.4 kilometers of sewage pipelines and 15 kilometers of water pipelines were destroyed in Tulkarm refugee camp.

It is estimated that Israeli settlements discharge approximately 400,000 cubic meters of untreated domestic sewage and industrial wastewater annually into Palestinian land, causing severe contamination of water and environmental resources. Greenhouse gas emissions from settlement factories are estimated at about 6 million tons of carbon equivalent annually—140% higher than emissions from activities of residents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Since October 7, 2023, settlers have established 114 new settlements in West Bank governorates, displacing 33 Palestinian Bedouin communities (455 families, 2,853 people).

Southern Lebanon: Chemical Spraying and Farmland Poisoning

In February 2026, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun publicly accused Israel of committing “ecological crimes” against Lebanon. Israeli aircraft sprayed unknown chemicals in southern Lebanon, endangering the safety of local residents and UN peacekeeping forces.

Lebanese Environment Minister Tamara Zein requested samples from the sprayed areas for analysis. She stated in phone calls that, pending confirmation of the toxicity of these substances, Israel’s actions would be considered “operations aimed at destroying the ecosystem and deliberately weakening the resilience of residents in southern Lebanon.”

President Aoun emphasized: “This aggressive act is a serious violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty, and the environmental and health crime against Lebanese citizens and their land is a continuation of Israel’s repeated attacks on Lebanon and its people.” He called on the international community and UN agencies to work together to stop this dangerous behavior targeting farmland, people’s livelihoods, and threatening public health and the environment.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor stated on February 5 that the Israeli military’s spraying of chemical substances in vast agricultural areas of southern Lebanon and Syria constitutes a “war crime.” After collecting samples, Lebanon’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment indicated that some samples showed glyphosate concentrations “20 to 30 times higher than the average levels in the region.”

The organization noted: “Deliberately targeting civilian farmland violates international humanitarian law, particularly the prohibition against attacking or destroying objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population.” “The large-scale destruction of private property without specific military necessity constitutes a war crime and undermines food security and basic livelihoods in affected areas.”

Historical Roots of Ecosystem Destruction

Mazin Qumsiyeh, Director of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University, pointed out that current environmental destruction did not begin on October 7, 2023. He traces the roots of destruction back to the British Mandate period (1917-1948), noting that conditions worsened after the 1948 Nakba, when over 700,000 Palestinians were displaced and approximately 500 villages were destroyed.

Native tree species such as oaks, carobs, and hawthorns, along with traditional crops like olives, figs, and almonds, were systematically uprooted and replaced with introduced pine trees, destroying biodiversity and altering local ecosystems.

“The only difference in the past two years is the acceleration of genocide—ecocide, medicide, scholasticide, destroying everything related to Palestinians, just using the events of October 7 as an excuse to accelerate the process,” Qumsiyeh said.

Possibility of Recovery: Cost and Political Will

A joint assessment by the World Bank, the United Nations, and the European Union in February estimated that rebuilding Gaza over the next decade will cost $53.2 billion—with environmental restoration requiring $1.9 billion, and water, energy, and sanitation facilities requiring $2.7 billion.

Joseph believes recovery is possible: “You can work towards recovery. There’s always a path to recovery. I don’t want anyone to think there’s no turning back.” However, he emphasized that this requires substantial funding, manpower, time, and “a tremendous amount of political will.”

Qumsiyeh is more pessimistic: “There are no studies available, and research is not permitted—Israel simply does not allow it. They have destroyed local research capabilities, destroyed universities, destroyed laboratories.”

He concluded: “Israel declared it wants to make Gaza uninhabitable. And they are succeeding.”

Conclusion: Double Genocide

In their joint statement on World Environment Day 2025, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and the Environmental Quality Authority issued the harshest indictment:

“Israel is committing double genocide: genocide against humanity and against nature. This is a historical precedent that places the international community before a severe test—it must hold accountable those who turn the environment into a weapon of war, violating all international conventions from the Geneva Conventions to the principles of international environmental law.”

When water supply systems are destroyed, farmland is buried under toxic rubble, seas become biodiversity graves, and the air fills with the “smell of death”—the ecological cost of war can no longer be measured in numbers. This destruction will not end with ceasefire. It will persist in the soil for decades, circulate in groundwater for centuries, and continue in the health of victims for generations.

This ancient land is both the cradle of civilization and a testing ground for war. And when the war finally ends, people will discover that the environment—this most silent victim—has borne the heaviest cost of all.