For over a year now, the Gaza Strip has been ravaged by heavy armed conflict. Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip has decimated critical infrastructure, killed over 45,000 Palestinians and internally displaced 1.9 million more, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs.
While the dire humanitarian effects of the war are relatively well-known, the “unprecedented” environmental devastation, as described by the United Nations, continues to be overshadowed.
This is not a new phenomenon – a devastated environment is an often overlooked byproduct of war.
20th century trench warfare scarred European landscapes, the Vietnam War pummeled and poisoned Vietnamese jungles and Russia’s ongoing onslaught has destroyed legions of protected Ukrainian wildlife.
However, as the forewarned effects of global warming continue to materialize at an alarming rate, some believe it’s time to pay more attention to the military sector’s role in intensifying the climate crisis.
The Gaza Strip is nestled in one of the world’s most vulnerable territories to climate change. The Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East region is warming two times faster than the global average, and is experiencing decreasing levels of precipitation and increasingly hot summer temperatures, according to a 2022 study. Prior to the war, Gaza was already facing stark environmental issues, driven by poorly planned urbanization and high population growth, which have been exacerbated by a war that has massively contaminated the region’s ecological systems.
An attempt to reverse the environmental havoc wreaked in Gaza by the Israel-Hamas conflict is projected by the UN to take decades. Damaged wastewater infrastructure, disrupted energy systems and mounting tonnes of debris have played significant roles in polluting Gaza’s environment.
When the conflict hit its one year mark this October, the Palestinian Water Authority reported that nearly 85% of Gaza’s critical water and wastewater treatment facilities had been deemed non-operational. The city’s water production output is currently at 5% of its normal level, as the coastal aquifer, desalination plants and piped water supply from Israeli water company Mekorot have all been depleted or damaged, according to the UN. A decrease in regional rainfall has also diminished the increasingly contaminated aquifer, a major source of water in Gaza.
The collapse of key wastewater infrastructure has heightened the seepage of sewage into the environment, polluting soil, freshwater and marine systems. Meanwhile, multiple temporary landfills scattered across the Gaza Strip are holding heaps of biohazardous waste which is leaking into Gaza’s characteristically porous soil, according to the UN.
The destruction of solar panels has also played a part in contaminating Gazan soil. Faced with fuel shortages and energy insecurity, Gaza had made strides towards increasing solar energy production, installing around 12,400 rooftop solar systems by 2023, according to the Arava Institute. The solar grid has since been decimated and toxic substances in burning panels, such as lead and cadmium, have tainted surrounding water, soil and air, according to the UN. As Gaza’s energy grid continues to crumble, hopes for a functioning renewable energy sector are dwindling.
The Associated Press reported in October that more than 66% of Gaza’s physical infrastructure and over 67% of the region’s cropland had been demolished by the vast amount of munitions deployed by Israel. An estimated 42 million tonnes of debris now lies where Gazan homes once stood. Human remains, asbestos and other hazardous substances lie within the rubble, which is projected to take 14 years to clean up, according to Reuters.
While dropped bombs and excessive fuel use generate significant carbon emissions, the real climate cost will arise when Gaza is rebuilt. Reconstructing the Gaza Strip is estimated to add 60 million tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere, amounting to the total annual emissions of Sweden or Portugal, according to the Conflict and Environment Observatory.
The Observatory also reported global military forces are responsible for 5.5% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. If the global military complex was a country, it would have the fourth largest carbon footprint, only following India, China, and the U.S. That percentage could actually be higher, considering the 2015 Paris Agreement made countries reporting their military emissions a voluntary endeavor.
The reality is, war is not immune to climate consequences. If countries choose to take the climate crisis seriously, the military sector must take action to limit their role in environmental destruction. Israel’s bombardment has poisoned the earth Gaza was built on and introduced severe health risks to the millions that live there, setting any environmental progress in the region back by decades.
Climate change will time and time again disproportionately affect the underprivileged. Displaced Palestinians now must endure excessive heat, frequent dust storms and droughts in a war-torn environment where bare necessities have become rare commodities and the majority of natural resources have been contaminated.
Gaza stands as a stark reminder that the impact of war extends far beyond human casualties and political repercussions. Environmental progress will continue to be hindered if the global military complex is not held responsible for its ignorance of climate action.
Sources:
Climate change and weather extremes in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. Reviews of Geophysics, 60 (3). https://doi.org/10.1029/2021rg000762/
Dickie , G. (n.d.). Gaza conflict has caused major environmental damage, Un says. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-conflict-has-caused-major-environmental-damage-un-says-2024-06-18/.
Parkinson, S., & Cottrell , L. (2022). Estimating the Military’s Global Greenhouse Emissions. Conflict and Environment Observatory. https://ceobs.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SGRCEOBS-Estimating_Global_MIlitary_GHG_Emissions_Nov22_rev.pdf
The environmental costs of the escalating Middle East crisis. Conflict and Environment Observatory. (2024, October 5). https://ceobs.org/the-environmental-costs-of-the-escalating-middle-east-crisis/
United Nations Environment Programme. (2023). Environmental impact of the conflict in Gaza: Damage assessment and recovery needs. https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/45739/environmental_impact_conflict_Gaza.pdf
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. (2024, July). Gaza Strip: Preliminary debris quantification. https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/gaza-strip-preliminary-debris-quantification-july-2024Zittis, G., et al. (2022).