Gaza 2023 Environment

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Mitigating Risks of Environmental Impacts on Gaza - Review of Precautions &

Solutions post (2023 War)
Article · November 2023

DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/2JMCP
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International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET)
Volume 14, Issue 07, November-December 2023, pp. 15-47, Article ID: IJARET_14_07_002
Available online at https://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJARET?Volume=14&Issue=7
ISSN Print: 0976-6480 and ISSN Online: 0976-6499
© IAEME Publication
MITIGATING RISKS OF ENVIRONMENTAL

IMPACTS ON GAZA - REVIEW OF
PRECAUTIONS & SOLUTIONS POST
(2023 WAR)
Mohamed Buheji
Founder of Socioeconomic Institute for Advanced Studies (SIAS) - Rwanda
Khawla Al-Muhannadi
Founder of Environment Friends Society &
Reem Program for Young Environmental Leaders
ABSTRACT
The latest war on Gaza that started after 7th of October 2023, has increased the
risks of the environmental impact on the people's quality of life, where health,
property, natural resources, agricultural lands, water, soil and air quality, and
sources of waste need urgent total assessment.
The authors reviewed all the aspects of the environmental impact on Gaza,
including the latest war, to come up with practical solutions that support the
#Gaza_Resilience_Lab initiative. The researchers used all the available resources that
were published during the months of October and November 2023 in both English and
Arabic from journals, reports, TV news, and international agencies, besides the papers
and books published in the last two decades specifically Gaza's environmental impact
situation. Based on the analysis and synthesis of the identified environmental
protection response frameworks suitable for the situation in Gaza, a short-term
(immediate) action, followed by mid-term and long-term plans were suggested. The
implication of this study calls for specific actions for Gaza by prioritizing the safety
and security of food, water, and health. Further research in this line should be done
from the field.
Keywords: Gaza, Palestine, Environmental Impact, Environment Under Occupation,

Pollution, Wars, White Phosphorus, EWIPA
https://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJARET 15 editor@iaeme.com
Mohamed Buheji, Khawla Al-Muhannadi
Cite this Article: Mohamed Buheji, Khawla Al-Muhannadi, Mitigating Risks of

Environmental Impacts on Gaza - Review of Precautions & Solutions post (2023
War), International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology,
14(7), 2023, pp. 15-47.
https://iaeme.com/Home/issue/ IJARET?Volume=14&Issue=7
1. INTRODUCTION
Since the Belfour Promise in 1917, a set of plans were put together to alienate the
Palestinian lands (the Indigenous people of Palestine) through either killing, expelling, or
enjailing them. This led to the announcement of ―Israel‖ as the Zionist State in Palestine in
1948. This was followed by putting the Palestinians who were not killed or expelled in
extreme situations of human rights violations and made it difficult for them to live a dignified
life even in their own villages and cities that were not destroyed or occupied yet. Later, the
environmental destruction started.
It is difficult to describe the environmental situation in an occupied territory without

explaining the situations that people and the environment under occupation have been in
Palestine since 1948, which has been experiencing both ethnic cleansing, transforming its
geographic identity and the memory of the place.
The latest war on Gaza that started after 7th of October, has increased the environmental
impact that came from the damage to people and property, including farms, agricultural tools,
and means of disposing of waste. Gazans, for more than 50 days, could not access many
means of minimum quality of life requirements, including access to energy, food, water or
even the capability to manage waste effectively.
In this paper, we review the history of Palestine in general and Gaza specifically. The
colonial extraction and dispossession of invasive species is also exploited in relevance to the
United Nations resolutions on the environment of Palestine. The review extends to the
environmental history of Palestine before and after the occupation, which illustrates the rise of
environmental injustice in Gaza.
The authors present the background of the Gaza environment that would help to link the
challenges of the strip to the sustainability of natural resources, in the context of the
systematic environmental destruction. This review was then utilized in the analysis of Gaza
environmental impact, specifically after 7th of October 2023 war. This work is later reflected
on a practical framework that supports the #Gaza_Resilience_Lab initiative.
2. History of Palestine & Gaza

2.1 Colonial Extraction and Dispossession of Invasive Species
Colonial extraction starts with binding the colonized and the colonizing into unequal
relationships of extraction colonization and dispossession under occupation, enslaving people
and nature and turning them into resources for accumulation of capital for the benefit of the
colonizer, practising land grabbing, wars and slavery, Khoo (2020).
Mitigating Risks of Environmental Impacts on Gaza - Review of Precautions & Solutions post
(2023 War)
Palestine has experienced a high intensity of colonial extraction, and therefore, natural
resource booms are those with a low level of institutional quality (Kodila-Tedika et al. 2018).
Aspects of extractive colonialism include colonial plantation replacing pre-colonial nature-
cultures relationships with a mono-culture that continuously requires deforestation, slavery
drought, soil exhaustion, and the legitimizing dispossessing of the original inhabitants so that
resources can be appropriated and extracted and introducing claims such as protected areas,
Khoo (2020).
2.2 History of Gaza Strip & Impact of 2023 War on its Environmental Rights
The Gaza City is a part of the Gaza Strip that the ‗Israeli‘ occupation forces permitted
Palestinians to exist in, after taking over Palestine in 1948, followed by further land
confiscation over the years. It is located on the southeastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea,
but Palestinian residents‘ fishers in Gaza are permitted only a small part of the sea and then
chased, fired at, and have their boats destroyed and even detained any time anyone in
occupation forces feels so, under the accusation of crossing the set line.
The Gaza Strip is located in the transitional zone between a temperate Mediterranean
climate in the west and north, and an arid desert climate of the Sinai Peninsula in the East and
south Yousef (2004), Rahman et al., (2013). As Palestinians are deprived the right to use the
Jordan River, and owing to a lack of surface water, groundwater is the only source of fresh
water for all uses in North Gaza, as mentioned in Shomar (2006).
With the shortage of comprehensive, in-depth environmental assessment reports in

Gaza, it was noted that further research is needed to fully understand not only the severity of
the environmental problems faced by the people of Gaza but also the trajectory of the
degradation still to come. CEOBS (2020).
During the recent assault on Gaza, OCHA (2023) estimated that the number of people
internally displaced in the first month, to be around one million, including about 353,000
people staying in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the
Near East (UNRWA) schools in central and southern Gaza. They are living in increasingly
dire conditions.
2.3 UN Resolutions on the Environment of Palestine
The UN General Assembly, in its resolution 1803 (XVII) of 14 December 1962 on

permanent sovereignty over natural resources, declared the following: "7. Violation of the
rights of peoples and nations to sovereignty over their natural wealth and resources is contrary
to the spirit and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and hinders the development
of international cooperation and the maintenance of peace".
It is important to understand that the Israeli occupation controls all aspects of

Palestinian life, including mobility and access to drinking water. It does not answer to
international law nor abide by any UN resolutions. OHCHR (2021) requested Israel and the
State of Palestine to provide information on any action taken or envisaged concerning
ensuring equitable access to safe drinking water in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem. The State of Palestine responded with multiple submissions in May
and June 2021, while ‗Israel‘ has not responded. While as stated in a Human rights report,
‗Israel‘ replied to a human rights council report by freezing its relationship with OHCHR and
expelling its international working staff in Occupied Palestine.
2.4 Environmental History of Palestine Before & After the Occupation
For countless generations, Palestinians have lived and worked sustainably and in
harmony with the natural environment in Palestine, maintaining the indigenous landscape,
sharing common resources, and growing a wide variety of crops, including watermelon,
wheat, citrus, grapes, and olives, the latter of which form a central part of Palestinian culture
and identity, IMEU (2022). As from 1948, when the occupation of Palestine took UN
recognition and support from strong international players, the ―State of Israel― was established
in 78% of Palestine, with at least 75% of all Palestinians expelled from their homes, while
―Israel‖ has been negatively impacting and purposely destroying the Palestinian environment
while exploiting its natural resources; although it is illegal for Israel as the occupying power
to exploit Palestinian natural resources in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza for its
own purposes, according to international law, IMEU (2022).
2.5 Rise of Environmental Injustice in Gaza through Toxic Occupation
Control Mechanisms used by ‗Israeli‘ Occupation ―whereby valuable ecological

resources are transferred to Israel, and environmental bads such as pollution from the
settlements are externalized onto the occupied Palestinian territories are defined as
environmental racism or environmental injustice. This injustice can be seen in the inequitable
distribution of environmental burdens and access to environmental goods (Temper, 2009).
Environmental injustice is practised in the worst shape against Palestinians by the Israeli
occupation. It goes without saying that humans generate waste, however, not all humans have
to live with the waste. ―Environmental racism describes how governments and corporations
tend to dump environmental hazards – like waste - on communities that experience racial
injustice, reflecting and reinforcing systematic racism, UNDP (2023).
3. Background of Gaza Strip Environment

3.1 Background of Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip, or simply Gaza, is a narrow (roughly rectangular) piece of land in the
southwest of historical Palestine, along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, sieged
with a three-meter-high apartheid wall separating Gaza from the rest of occupied Palestine
known by the west as ―Israel‖ including settlements that were built on top of Gaza district‘s
villages that were destroyed by the occupation such as Faaluja.
The Israeli occupation forces withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and evacuated the
settlements that were there. Since that withdrawal, they have carried out military operations in
the strip from time to time, some of which turned into wars that lasted weeks and left
thousands of martyrs. Since October 2007, after Gaza had run democratic elections and
(2023 War)
elected leaders of Palestinian national resistance, and ‗Israel‘ did not like the results, the
Israeli occupation imposed a comprehensive siege on Gaza. Rafah is the only gate for
Palestinians to leave Gaza or exchange goods or receive humanitarian aid when Israel
launches airstrikes and commits genocides. The Rafah border passage was destroyed several
times by ‗Israel‘ in addition to checkpoints and sieges that made it not possible for Palestinian
to use it in emergency situations such as the October-November 2023 daily genocides.
The Gaza Strip, which is the most densely populated area in the world, inhabited by
more than two million Palestinians, has been subjected to several Israeli attacks over the
years, each time with different excuses, but the actions are always severe destruction to the
Palestinian infrastructure and attack on residential areas and killing of children, not once they
failed to do that. Meanwhile, Israeli army uses weapons of mass destructions on residential
areas, schools, roads full of people and even hospitals and UN Safe shelters.
Gaza is considered today the largest open-air prison surrounded by ―Israel‖ on the North
and East, the sea from the west and Egypt from the South. Gaza is bordered from the East by
―Israel‖, south by Egypt and west by the Mediterranean Sea, with a surface area of 140 square
miles (363 square km) just northeast of the Sinai Peninsula, UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights ( ). Together with the West Bank, Gaza Comprises what is so-called
Palestinian Territories, after the occupation.
UNRWA maintains active files of about 5.9 million Palestine Refugees and over
685,000 other persons of concern who have been identified as eligible for UNRWA services
according to its Consolidated Eligibility and Registration Instructions (UNRWA, 2023). See
Table 1 for details on how the Palestinian refugees‘ situation was created inside and outside
Palestine. All characterized by preventing the treatment of the wounded and sick (injured), the
occupation violated international humanitarian law, which led to an increase in the number of
martyrs, the execution of civilians in the alleys of the camp, and exterminating entire families
from the civil registry, where they killed children, women, men, and the elderly. In addition to
the testimony of eyewitnesses who mentioned that the occupation army stole the bodies of
martyrs from the camp in trucks and transported them to an unknown destination, probably in
order to hide the traces of the massacres they carried out.
3.2 Environmental Status in Gaza
The ―Israeli‖ occupation forces theoretically withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and
evacuated the illegal settlements that they built there. Since that former withdrawal, they have
carried out military assaults in Gaza from time to time, most of which turned into bombing
that lasted days or even weeks and left hundreds or even thousands of killed children and
adults and destroyed houses, agricultural lands, nature, properties, businesses, and public
facilities. Gaza Strip, which is the most densely populated area in the world, inhabited by
more than two million Palestinians, has been subjected to several ―Israeli‖ attacks over the
years. These attacks not only destroyed any possible economic, and social development, but
even destructed any environmental sustainability projects.
The October 7th war on Gaza not only polluted the environment with the 25,000 tons of
explosives, but the effects of urban strikes on Gaza showed part of a troubling contemporary
pattern in which wars are waged in high population density areas – with devastating and long-
lasting consequences for local communities. Airwars & CEOBS (2022).
During the recent assault on the people of Gaza, starting October 8th 2023, by the
Israeli Occupation army, OCHA (2023) estimated the number of people internally displaced
to around one million, including about 353,000 people staying in the United Nations Relief
and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) schools in central and
southern Gaza. Families, mostly children, in Gaza, are living in increasingly dire conditions,
as their homes were bombed, losing their properties and belongings, and a place to stay and
provide their basic needs. Not to mention the physical injuries, trauma and horror of being
bombarded with rockets and air strikes every 15 minutes.
UNRWA (2023) reported in the second week of the aggression that 10,000 arrived
acceding refugee camps ability 4 times, while most of them had to sleep on the street. Also
reported the bombing of UNRWA refugee safe camps. Euro-Med (2023) reported on
November 4th 2023 (Day 29 of the attacks on Gaza), 2219 civilian Palestinians were under
rubble, and hundreds of bodies in the street were left to be eaten by the dogs or bacteria to
plan the Israeli war strategy.
3.3 Gaza Challenge for Sustainability of Natural Resources
Gaza, similar to the Palestinians' occupied territories, is facing a substantial

environmental challenge due to its delicate environmental resources, lack of sovereignty and
its limited financial assets, UN (2022). Many aspects add to the environmental sustainability
in Gaza, such as scarcity of water, deterioration of soil and water resources, pollution in air,
water and soil, as well as desertification and unsustainable management of land. i.e. all the
fauna and flora and the environment in general, suffer from impacts of Israeli deeds during
both times of peace and war.
Gaza even suffer more than other Palestinian occupied territories where people
communicable disease, besides polluted and scarce water sources, and habitats for people,
animals and plants are being bombed using EWIPA for weeks and few years. This add to
other forms of suffering that are happening on a daily basis even when war is not declared
internationally, such as humiliation and torture at checkpoints, daily night raids and
destruction of properties, and uprooting and burning of old, deeply rooted olive and other
Palestinian trees in this limited area.
4. Systematic Environmental Destruction

The Palestinians who are still living and breathing in Palestine are victims of the
occupation from both human rights and environmental destruction. Once ―Israel‖ was
declared and recognized as a Jewish State in Palestine in May 1948, indigenous flora (such as
oaks, carobs, and hawthorns) and agricultural plants (such as olives, figs, and almonds) were
(2023 War)
systematically uprooted and replaced by European pine trees (Qumsiyeh & Abusarhan ,
2022).
Furthermore, the destruction of the Palestinian environment was also systematically

practised to pressure the Indigenous People of Palestinians to leave their lands, so the
occupation and its settlers could confiscate the lands and claim them as part of ―Israel‖ IMEU
(2022). This is even more evident in the repeated military assaults and illegal siege and
blockade of Gaza, and in the continuous raids of Palestinian residential camps and farms in
the West Bank, that did not stop events while launching weeks of genocide and demolishing
of life on Gaza under the claim that Hamas (the Palestinian Resistance) live there. The aim
was always to erase evidence of Palestinian existence and their connection to the land, IMEU
(2022).
In a study published by Airwars & COEBS (2022) to understand the impacts of

explosive weapons used by the ‗Israeli‘ army during the May 2021 genocide war on Gaza, it
was shown that the impacts ―go beyond the initial strike impact, causing reverberating effects
including damage to vital water and wastewater infrastructure‖. The Airwars & COEBS
(2022) study tried to understand the impacts of explosive weapons used by the ‗Israeli‘ army
during the May 2021 genocide war on Gaza, it was shown that the impacts ―go beyond the
initial strike impact, causing reverberating effects including damage to vital water and
wastewater infrastructure‖.
One of the listed impacts that affected more than 1 M people is the damage of 290 water
infrastructure ‗objects‘, where 109 of them were linked to wastewater such as sewage pipes
and wastewater treatment plants. This resulted in ―outflow of untreated sewage into streets,
visible across the strip via social media, into inland lakes, and into the Mediterranean Sea – as
evidenced by satellite imagery, ground measurements by WASH cluster representatives, and
media filming‖. Airwars & COEBS (2022).
It was also noted in the study that ―untreated or partially treated wastewater, has
exacerbated the risk of infections that cannot be treated by common antibiotics‖ because of
the duration and extent of pollution without being resolved. This is a logical expectation,
keeping in mind that Gaza is under continuous economic, environmental, social and political
siege that deprives the authority of the essentials to study and fix the damage including but
not limited to technical and financial necessities. Spare parts, machines and equipment could
enter Gaza only if the occupation army that inflicted the damage allowed it, which is a
paradox on its own. Furthermore, airstrikes and targeting infrastructure have been repeated
practice by the occupation forces. In the 22 days of occupation army attacks on Gaza in 2008 ,
between December the 27th and January the 18th, water and sanitation sector, which was
hardly recovering from previous aggressions, was brought to the brink of collapse, UN
(2009). Following on extended reverberating harm on Gaza Strip‘s wastewater management,
Airwars and CEOBS (2022) illustrated how wastewater and solid waste crises continues to act
in cycle, even months after the military aggression on Gaza seized.
The negative consequences of damaging water infrastructure did not end in May 2021,
―with ground collapses and delayed damage to pipelines‖. Gaza was able to apply some ad-
hoc fixes to come back to minimal service after half a year, without being able to complete it
due to ―a funding gap and the ban on raw materials‖. The consequences in the following year
were devastating for people, health and environment, with flash flooding in January and
November in regions with damaged wastewater infrastructure due to the bombing and
explosives used by the occupation the previous year.
The stormwater drains and storage ponds were also clogged with waste, mixing with
raw sewage from untreated water. This is an example of the condition of environment people
in Gaza have to live in in what is so-called peacetime, that comes as segregated intervals
between the bombardment airstrikes on Gaza every now and then, to cause more damage and
destroy any new infrastructure that Gaza succeeded to put in place.
The UN through United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights report (UN-
HCHR, 2021) confirmed that even before the war of 2023 the basic dayto day life needs of
the Palestinians are not met, as outlined). Even when water treatment systems are installed in
Gaza, which can be considered a positive steps, it is only a matter of when ‗Israel‘ decide to
bomb the water treatment plant next and turn it into a source of pollution and health hazard
for Gaza (Middle East Monitor, 2021; Airwars & CEOBS, 2022).
Table (1) Gaza in the last two decades (authors‘ design, information sourced from
Aljazeera ; CEOBS, 2020; EURO-MED, 2023).
Wars on Number of assaults Casualty House destroyed Environmental damage
Gaza operations & summary
& Duration Weapons used
Total
Child
Woman
+Targeted
areas/facilities
2002 Airstrikes 41 15 4 Three-stories  Destruction of

Lethal gas Highrise people‘s houses
Several houses  360 Palestinians
At least 650 wounded and
residential unit needing medical
assistance
 Polluting air with
lethal gas
2008-2009 Air strikes and 1430 400 240 11,122  5400 injured
bombing needing medical
(23 Days) White phosphorus care
Depleted uranium  Refugee situation
1000 tons of (in tents on top of
explosions dropped their destroyed
on Residential areas houses)
Sewage treatment  Chemical,
plant biological and
Water system nuclear pollution
 Targeting and
deterioration of
infrastructure
(2023 War)
 Densely
populated
residential areas,
humanitarian aid
house, market ,
health facilities
 Police station and
government
buildings (581
public buildings)
 Destruction of
NGO
headquarters (15)
 Destruction of
UN offices (53)
 Destruction of
health
establishments
(60) including
(15) hospitals and
(29) Ambulances
 Halt work in 3900
industrial
establishments
 Loss of jobs (40K
in Agriculture
sector + 90K in
other sectors)
 Uprooting of
396599 fruitful
trees + 51699
other trees
 Severe health
risks
 Destroying water
facilities
 Destroying
sewage treatment
facility
 bombing
residential areas
 Destruction of
high percentage
of live-saving
tunnels between
Gaza and Egypt
 Destruction of
vehicles (650)
 Economic crises
 Israeli, USA &
NATO control to
search boats,
leading to an
impact on fishers
and food security
 Division in admin
 strive
2012 Carpet bombing 180 42 11  Destroying

infrastructure and
(8 Days) residential areas,
including roads
2014 60,000 attacks on 2322 551 299 96,000 (17000  damaging the
5263 targets severely only power
(51 Days) Air strikes damaged) station in Gaza
Genocides  infrastructure of
Full scale ground power
invasion transmission and
Residential area sewage pumps
Hay Al Shjaeya and pipes severely
eastm Gaza City, damaged
Beit Hanoun,  Destroying
infrastructure and
Tunnels residential areas,
including roads
 220 factories
bombed
 203 mosques
damaged (some
historic 700 years
old)
 10,626 wounded
needing medical
care (3374
children and 1000
became
permanently
disabled)
 Rebuilding cost
estimated US$4-
6B over 20 years
 At least 10,000
families became
refugees , 273,000
Gazans were
displaced,
236,375 used
UNRWA Shelters
in 88 UNRWA
schools
 Damage to 138
schools and 26
health facilities
 At least 373,000
children need
psychological
support
2019 Dozens of air raids 34  111 wounded

Missal from Drone
(1 Day) bombed residential
area
Hay Alshujaeya
2021 1,500 declared 243 66 93 Bombing dozens  Destroying
airstrikes of residential infrastructure and
(11 Days) White phosphorus houses and residential areas
offices of Arab including roads.,
and foreign news and water
agencies treatment
facilities and
equipment.
 Closure of the
Kerem Shalom
crossing, which is
intended for the
entry of food,
medical and fuel
into Gaza.
 Genocides and
1910 wounded.
 More than 19000
(2023 War)
injured
0201 Carpet bombing 250- 062 66 Residential  Infrastructure

roads and residential towers  2200 wounded ,
(11 Days) areas 2400 some long-term
uninhabitable disability needing
Residential towers 50000 damaged rehabilitation
 8250 internally
displaced
 331 education
facilities damaged
 10 hospitals, 23
primary health
centers
 Loss in economy :
$190M , $380M
physical damage
 Limiting access to
basic services
 Prolonged power
outage (no
electricity for 11
hours a day)
impacting sewage
treatment, cooling
and heating,
health services
etc.
 Complete Seage
of Rafah crossing
0200 Al-Quds Tower in 49 17 4  360 wounded

Hay Al Rimal
(3 Days) Residential area
2023 Air strikes and 20360 8241 4126 59240  Purposely

bombing 28/11/2023 Completely targeting water
(52 Days) Full-scale ground destroyed resources and
invasion damaging them
Till the EWIPA 446 health 165300 partially  Purposely
Submission White Phosphorus staff destroyed targeting power
of this Paper Carpet bombing stations and
JDAM MK83 67 140 Press damaging them
Lethal gas murdered headquarter  Complete
Land journalists destruction
256 schools (carpet bombing)
25,000 tons (till 27 of infrastructure
November)  Complete
25,000 1040 industrial destruction
(Equivalent of 2 facilities (carpet bombing)
nuclear bombs) of habitats for
124 targeted families
Hitting 12,000 health facilities  Bombing
targets 22 hospitals, 55 hospitals : place
All Gaza clinics, to save lives of
Residential Areas 46 ambulances wounded, chronic
Schools 91 destroyed diseases, babies,
Hospitals mosques. and families that
UN Safe shelters 3 destroyed lost their homes
churches  Expected
Universities contamination of
Mosques the sea and
underground
Churches water with

Premeds sewage and
Press families chemical
Press pollution from
Ambulance vehicles weapons
Water sources  Hygiene and
Power supply safety crises
Cars moving  Lack of water to
civilians (fleeing to sustain population
south as ordered) life and health and
maintain a healthy
safe environment.
 Construction
waste pollution
 War waste
pollution
 Closing all
crossings to
prevent anyone
from leaving
Gaza, and any
water or food
from entering
Gaza.
 Bombing water
supply facilities
 Bombing sewage
treatment
facilities
 Burying existing
ponds of water
with cement
 Destroying the
agricultural land
 Damaging the
ground: 40-foot-
wide craters in the
ground and
turning Gaza into
a pile of rubble
 Gaza used to
grow grapefruit,
strawberries,
oranges, almonds,
watermelon,
eggplants, and
olives.
 Forcing the
population to
move south
without safe
corridors, and
without suitable
places to shelter
them
 Destroying all
means for
personal safety,
hygiene and
sanitation, WHO
announced
expecting spread
of Cholera and
other diseases
 Spraying
polluting lethal
(2023 War)
gases on people to
force them to
leave their homes
and
neighborhoods in
the North
 Forcing families
to walk from
north to south
Gaza with no safe
corridor or
provision of
vehicles, exposing
them to injuries,
fatigue, death ,
and being bombed
on the way
 1,730,000
internally
displaced
 36390 injured
needing medical
care
 Bombing schools,
mosques and
churches: places
for education and
for sheltering the
hundreds of
thousands of
survivals of
bombing their
houses
 Burning waste
purposely to
pollute air.
5. Methodology
The authors in reviewed all the aspects of the environmental impact on Gaza (Palestine),
with a specific focus on the situation after 7th of October 2023. In order to ensure updated
information is used to come up with practical solutions that support the
#Gaza_Resilience_Lab initiative, the researchers used all the available resources that were
published during the months of October and November 2023 in both the English and Arabic
from journals, TV news, and international agencies, besides the papers and books published in
the last two decades on Palestine, or specifically Gaza environmental impact situation. This
helped to build a comprehensive table, Table (1), that summarized the environmental risks
that Gaza created due to Israeli bombardment in the last five wars.
The methodology starts with the analysis of Gaza's environmental impact post-7th of
October 2023 war. The review and the use of internationally prohibited weapons on
environmental impact and the consistent use of white phosphorus bombs made the urgency
for field applications that address the specific strip needs and demands. Based on the analysis
of the waste management and treatment that have been witnessed during the atrocities in
Gaza, besides the rising necessity for clean water there, the authors suggested specific
frameworks that should help to respond to the necessities of environmental protection in

Gaza, by priority.
The identified environmental protection response frameworks were prioritized by short-

term (immediate) actions, followed by mid-term and long-term plans using a reference
theoretical framework and well-established approaches in this type of circumstance.
The outcome of this methodology is formulated an environmental assessment called

upon on the conclusion with specific focus on Gaza‘s need for free environmental reporting
from international organisations, besides prioritizing the safety and security of food, water,
and health.
6. Analysis of Gaza Environmental Impact Post 7th of October 2023 War

6.1 Use of Internationally Prohibited Weapons & Environmental Impact
In the October-November 2023 war on Gaza, the world witnessed that many hazardous
materials were utilized where 25,000 tons of explosives were used to kill more than twenty
thousand innocent civilians. Experts say that this number of explosives is more than twice the
explosives of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in World War II. The carpet bombing
using EWIPA continued non-stop for four weeks, killing more than twenty thousand children,
women and men, injuring hundreds of thousands and displacing two millions.
Everything bombed in Gaza is doubted to have been using lethal illegal explosive
weapons in populated areas (EWIPA) with detrimental impacts on people and the
environment, causing the killing of thousands and displacements of the entire population and
demolishing of residential areas, hospitals and infrastructure.
The use of internationally prohibited weapons of mass destruction against the latest
2023 war on Gaza civilians and its most important facilities that constitute the lifeline of life,
such as hospitals, water supply sources and stations, and sanitary drainage, have created a
devasting impact on all lines of life.
The Israeli forces used carpet bombing, white phosphorus, and the use of EWIPA have
polluted the three main elements of any contemporary and future environment, i.e. water, air,
and soil. The deterioration of these sources of life and their long-term contamination is
beyond war crimes. Today, the water in Gaza is undrinkable, as 97 % of it is contaminated
due to Israel‘s blockade and military occupation (UNEP, 2020). This is not only related to
operations during armed attacks on Gaza, but also due to a long-term policy by the Israeli
occupation of the Palestinians in this strip.
In wars against civilian Indigenous People of Palestine, ‗Israeli‘ Occupation army has
dropped thousands of tons of bombs. The continued use of explosive weapons in Gaza by the
occupation is considered by Airwars & CEOBS (2022) to be ―reducing the climate resilience
of Gaza, given capacity constraints and efficacy of the existing infrastructure‖.
6.2 Environmental Impact of Weapons Used Against Gaza
(2023 War)
Militaries are large producers of greenhouse gas emissions both during times of peace
and war; the CEOBS estimates that militaries are responsible for 5.5% of global emissions
with understanding that it is very difficult to track military emissions, and to challenge them
CEOBS (2023).
The long-lasting ecological costs of wars is a hot topic in context of sustainability,

national security, and human rights, researchers. Leep (2023) examined toxic entanglements
in multispecies politics and white phosphorus. In September 2023, just before the October war
on Gaza, CECOBS and University of Oxford organized the first international Military
Emissions Gap conference Military and Conflict GHG Emissions: From Understanding to
Mitigation. The conference, however, focused only on wartime emission and military carbon
footprint, and presented lessons from Ukraine war.
Palestinian scientists and authority, as well as international NGOs, repeatedly warned

that the Israeli Occupation Army is using deadly chemicals against civilians that violates
environmental rights, human rights, children rights, women's rights, and international norms
in Warfare. Till the 25th October 2023, 21,000 tons of explosives were thrown on Gaza,
which is an average of 40 tons of explosives for every square kilometre in the Gaza Strip was
bombed since the beginning of the aggression on October 7th. More than half of that
population became refugees, according to UNRWA (2023), while where more than 1.5
million displaced, while the demolishing of Gaza continues.
6.3 Use of EWIPA
It does not take a scientific study to understand that the use of explosive weapons in
populated areas (EWIPA) is a major cause of civilian deaths and injuries during wars, and
armed conflict. Moreover, 90% of victims in attacks using EWIPA are civilians (OCHA,
2023). In addition to the death, and physical and emotional suffering, EWIPA also has a
severe reverberating humanitarian impact, as injured individuals often require specialist
medical and psychosocial care, in both the immediate and long term, which is often
unavailable in conflict situations (OCHA, 2023), especially for people under occupation and
oppression.
In Gaza, in addition to that, the territory is under siege where no support, including
medical aid, can enter without permission from the occupier, who is also the offender using
EWIPA. Furthermore, the existing hospitals in Gaza, which are funded and run mostly by
UN, foreign humanitarian donations, were deprived from energy, medical supply, food, and
water, which interfered with their ability to save lives and treat injuries and conduct
operations and sustain pre-born infants and chronic disease patients.
This put the doctors and medical staff under great stress, especially after seeing
thousands of injured men and women, mostly children, and thousands of dead babies,
children, mothers, and adults. Some of the medical staff saw their own children and family
members amongst the dead ones brought to hospital in a hope to be saved. Those staff were
traumatized beyond imagination, and no access to support or a time to rest as killing and
targeting civilians continued for three weeks using illegal immoral, lethal weapons. To add to
the complexity of injuries, doctors reported seeing cases that are unprecedented, with four
degrees burnt over at least 60% of kids' bodies, and the hospital did not even have basic pain
killers to give them to help tolerate the killing pain.
6.4 The Consistent Use of White Phosphorus Bombs on Gaza
News reporters residing inside Gaza kept reporting that ―there was nowhere for civilians
to hide‖ as EWIPA were used to bomb residential, educational and health areas. ―billowing
above the streets of Gaza, a white cloud spread across the city‘s main harbour, plumes of
smoke descending from air-dropped munitions, Knowledia (2023).
Human rights groups said the fog was from a weapon first used in World War I that
violates international norms. White phosphorus was used in urban areas and against civilians
many times in the Middle East, like in the ‗Israeli‘ attacks on Gaza in 2008 and on Lebanon in
2006, and the United States attacks on Iraq in 2003, Mojabi et al. (2010).
Fenian terrorists were the first to use white phosphorus as a weapon and did so in the
19th century; therefore, white phosphorus and mixture was known as ‗Fenian fire‘
(Keshavarzi, 2017:59). This weapon was more widely used around World War I and II.
Britain in 1916 was the first to introduce factories for the production of white phosphorus
grenades, Keshavarzi (2017).
According to WHO (2023), exposure to white phosphorus is harmful by all routes of

exposure and it is absorbable in toxic amounts following ingestion or dermal exposure.
Furthermore, as phosphorus burns, its smoke harms the eyes and respiratory tract ―as
phosphorus oxides dissolve in moisture to form phosphoric acids‖ WHO (2023).
Exposure to white phosphorus causes both thermal and chemical injuries, resulting in
extremely painful burns, where affected skin may look yellowish and may show ―necrotic,
full-thickness burns surrounded by sloughed tissue‖, and may reach underlying human tissues
causing more profound burns with the very slow healing process, WHO (2023).
White phosphorus weapons used in urban areas against civilians have severe damage on
the environment and the people as it is ―highly flammable incendiary material which ignites
when exposed to oxygen‖ and has substantial ―incidental, incendiary effect‖ causing severe
burns to people and set structures, fields, and any objects in the vicinity on fire, Mindubaev et
al. (2018). Systemic effects may be felt only after a day, and in severe cases of exposure,
delayed systemic effects can comprise ―cardiovascular effects and collapse, as well as renal
and hepatic damage and depressed consciousness and coma‖, WHO (2023).
Exposure to white phosphorus can also cause death ―from shock, hepatic or renal
failure, central nervous system or myocardial damage‖, WHO (2023). Studies demonstrated
the presence of genotoxic properties in white phosphorus, which, in return, no doubt makes
white phosphorus even more dangerous to handle, Mindubaev et al. (2018). Further, white
phosphorus can cause an exponential increase in the count of chromosomal aberrations, even
at very low concentrations of 0.01%, as per Mindubaev et al. (2018). White phosphorus also
(2023 War)
negatively impacts the environment and plants, especially with its ability to maintain its
nature and effect for years within deep soil, Mojabi et al. (2010).
Table (2) Impacts Expected on Gaza Due to White Phosphorus Exposure
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7.0 Urgent Needs & Demands Application

7.1 Waste Management
What the world witnessed in the October-November 2023 war is what B‘Tselem (2017)
and other researchers warned about where they‘ve seen that all of Palestine under occupation
suffers from hazardous waste contamination that is generated from inside Israeli territory. As
per Amnesty International's (2017) report titled ―The Occupation of Water‖, water security is
becoming a life-threatening matter. Today, millions of Palestinians are denied access to
sufficient water to meet their personal and domestic needs as well as to enjoy the related
rights to water that supports food, health, work and an adequate standard of living.
7.2 Waste Treatment
As stated by Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General (2009) ―Safe drinking water and

adequate sanitation are crucial for poverty reduction, crucial for sustainable development and
crucial for achieving any and every one of the Millennium Development Goals‖.
In Gaza, the Israeli occupation prevents the Palestinians from developing any adequate
waste infrastructure, and the Palestinians cannot decide upon their waste treatment policy or
plan even if they receive donations from outside to build a waste treatment plant, for instance.
Further, Israeli‘s can easily bomb and flood the refugee camps with untreated waste and
subject Palestinians to the worst environmental health hazard, like we are witnessing now
during the latest war of October 2023.
In 2014, for instance, the occupation armed forces bombed and destroyed vital water
and sewage infrastructure in the besieged territory, in a ―severe breach of the 1977 Protocol
to the 1949 Geneva Conventions on the part of Israel and all those conceiving, planning,
ordering and perpetrating the attacks‖, leaving ―100,000's with no water‖ and ―25,000 cubic
meters of raw sewage spilling into the sea daily - increasing the likelihood of disease caused
by poor sanitation‖ (The Ecologist, 2014). Same is now in October 2023, where the damages
are expected to take months to fully repair, providing that no other bombing attacks were
launched.
As reported by WASH Advocacy workforce (UN, 2009), because of the siege on Gaza
by the occupation, equipment and supplies essential for the construction and maintenance of
water and sanitation facilities prevented from entering Gaza, leading to halting intended
projects ―to repair, rehabilitate and upgrade existing infrastructure, including water and
sewerage networks and waste-water treatment plants‖.
Blockade of water and sanitation is a known practice by the occupation against the
Indigenous People of Palestine. What was witnessed in Gaza by the entire world in October
2023, was not uncommon, only it was of much higher intensity and while the world was
aware of what was happening.
7.3 Addressing Necessities for Clean Water
The war against people of Gaza and the use of EWIPA against Gaza strip since 1998
have been taking daunting effect on Water Resources. There is a need to analyze the
multidimensional impacts of the on-going military actions on freshwater resources and water
infrastructure that were prominent in the first week of the latest full army attack on Gaza
starting the second week of October 2023. Although a complete report is not possible before
the seize fire and stop of EWIPA, so that an environmental evaluation can take place, videos
of armed machines pouring cement to cover the water resources in Gaza and bombing
individuals trying to reach the remnant sources of water, both can give an indication of how
critical water situation in Gaza.
Furthermore, official Israeli Occupation press releases announced that they would cut
food, electricity, and water in Gaza, and then confirmations started to flow from sources in
Gaza such as hospitals, the Ministry of Health, reporters, and individuals in hundreds of
different videos on social media that the little water they still have is running off.
Long before the latest full blockage over Gaza and deprivation from water by Israeli
occupation, humble reports and different UN and NGO assessments identified the types of
impacts, the sorts of pressure and effects imposed on the water resources and the negative
costs on the availability and quality of freshwater for drinking and for the other uses by the
civilian population in Gaza.
In an observatory report issued by Airwars and CEOBS, the ―immediate and

reverberating consequences of the use of explosive weapons during the 11 day‖ of Israeli
aggression against the sieged Gaza in May 2021 was explored. In that observatory report it
was stated that vital infrastructures were damaged. "The one fact that is indisputable,
however, is that the Palestinians have no decision-making power in their own water future."
(UN, 1992). One technical suggestion included in the UN Report discussing the protection of
Palestinian water (UN, 1992) was related to harvesting and storing rainwater, that would
otherwise be lost, and some of that then to be used to replenish underground reserves.
However, Israeli occupation repeatedly destroyed the tanks and pipes Palestinians managed to
put in place over the years in order to capture rain.
There is a lack of international protection of Palestinian water resources ―despite

available legal protection and growing expressions of concern, the international community
has not so far found appropriate measures for the protection of the Palestinian water
resources‖ (UN, 1992).
For 56 years now, the ―Israeli‖ Occupation enforced complete control over all
Palestinian water sources all over occupied territories (Amnesty International, 2017; IMEU,
2022). Palestinians are denied sufficient clean, safe drinking water according to WHO criteria.
The occupation follows systematic plans of Denying Palestinians access to clean and safe
(2023 War)
drinking water. The occupation steals more than 80% of Palestinian water from the West
Bank and confiscates it for the benefit of illegal ‗Israeli‘ settlements that were built on stolen
Palestinian lands, denying the rightful landowners access to water while providing ‗Israeli‘
settlements with water to use for entertainment such as filling swimming pools, and washing
cars (IMEU, 2022; UNDP, 2023).
The theft of Palestinian water resulted in extreme environmental negative impacts on

both the health and food security of Palestinians, and the fauna and flora of Palestine. The
occupation forced ultimate control over Palestinian water from the year 1967, causing severe
impacts on the quantity and quality of water as per IMEU (2022).
From one hand, the followed the policy of over-extraction of Palestinian water sources,
causing ―a drop in the water table and a distortion in the natural flow of groundwater,
increasing vulnerability to extreme weather events such as floods and droughts, which
damage Palestinian agricultural and residential areas‖ (B‘Tselem, 2017; IMEU, 2022). By
colonial policies such as clearcutting 25,000 acres of native wetlands and draining Lake Hula
to make room for farming settlements, the occupation damaged the quality of the Sea of
Galilee, once the single largest source of freshwater.
During the latest October 2023, Palestinians in Gaza were denied the right to seek water
to drink and provide for their families and households, as they are not permitted to drill water
wells or install water pumps. Despite that the Palestinians, particularly in Gaza, managed to
invent ways to collect rainwater in the rainy season and invested what they have in making it
work best for their needs. The occupation did not allow even this to happen. ‗Israeli‘ forces
have a history of damaging the Gazans' pipelines and water tanks every now and then, to
deprive Palestinians from collected rainwater (IMEU, 2022). Palestinians are forced to live on
an average of just 19 gallons of water per day—well below the WHO minimum of 50 to 100
litres of water per person per day to ensure that most basic needs and health essentials and
adequate standard of living are met (UN-Water,2015; Amnesty International, 2017).
For a theoretical framework for your paper on the environmental issues in the Gaza
Strip and Palestine, you can integrate several interdisciplinary theories and concepts. This
approach will provide a robust foundation for analyzing the complex interplay of historical,
political, environmental, and socio-economic factors affecting the region. Here's a suggested
theoretical framework:
8. Proposing & Prioritising Frameworks of Respond to Necessities of

Environmental Protection in Gaza
8.1 Identifying Type of Environmental Protection Response Frameworks
Based on the history of Gaza and recent developments after the 7th of October 2023,
one needs to study which environmental protection framework can be followed to create more
effective response after this devastating war.
The known environmental protection frameworks are: political ecology framework,

environmental justice framework, sustainable development framework, resilience theory
framework, human rights and environmental legislative framework, health and environmental
interaction framework, and war and environment framework. CEOBS (2022), APHA (2020),
UN (2018a), UN (2018b), Buheji (2018), Khan (2013), Ali (2001).
8.2 Prioristing Environmental Protection Framework
8.2.1 Short-Term Environmental Protection Framework
Gaza authority should create a sense of urgency by adopting first a framework that is
focused on the perspective of what the 2023 war might bring from polluted environmental
conditions, which create different levels of risks to the public health of the strip. This needs a
speedy investigation into how environmental degradation in Gaza (such as water pollution, air
quality, and the impact of war) affects public health, including the prevalence of diseases and
water and food safety and security. APHA (2020)
As shown in Figure (1), Gaza would need to move immediately on adopting the
sustainable development framework. This means working with all the local and international
experts to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs. This work should start with evaluating the sustainability
of resource management in Gaza, especially in the context of ongoing conflicts and economic
challenges. UN (2018a)
Another framework needs to be implemented to build a more resilience economy-based

framework regardless of the future conditions of Gaza, i.e., in times of peace or war, Buheji
(2018). The Gazan local government should work on exploring the ‗capacity vs. demand‘ for
the social assets, the ecological assets, and the economic assets and how they all interact
through projects that would help to absorb coming disturbances and still retain their basic
function and structure for minimum Gazans ‗quality of life‘. This framework should start
being implemented even before Gaza start rebuilding, through analyzing the required
resilience of Gaza‘s environmental and social systems to ongoing stresses, including war,
resource depletion, and infrastructural damage.
8.2.2 Medium-Term Environmental Protection Framework
Here, it is suggested and based on the outcome of this study, that Gaza should use two
frameworks that address human rights and environmental law. Here the Palestinian authority
should examine how international laws and UN resolutions apply to environmental issues in
Gaza while assessing compliance and enforcement challenges. UN (2018b)
The other action that needs to be tackled in the med term is studying the environmental
impacts of military actions and conflicts over the years on the fauna and the flora. The
application here should be tested by special lab samples that would test the specific
environmental impacts on all the areas where military operations effected Gaza, taking into
consideration the specific weapons, bombs and the destructed areas of infrastructure and their
(2023 War)
potential hazardous exposure in the short and long-term. Figure (1) shows these medium-term
details. CEOBS (2022)
8.2.3 Long-Term Environmental Protection Framework
As shown again in Figure (1), for long-term environmental protection framework, Gaza
can use the political ecology framework that integrates the politics of resource use and
environmental change. Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the strip can create an expert
team that analyze how political factors imposed by the Israeli occupation and their colonial
history, and the ongoing conflicts in shaping the contemporary and future environmental
conditions in Gaza. Khan (2013)
In support to the previous framework, the environmental justice framework also could
help to focus on the fair distribution of environmental benefits and burdens, considering both
social and economic factors, Ali (2001). Gaza specifically needs to focus on this long- and
medium-term (i.e., in the next five years) to assess how environmental burdens (like pollution,
water scarcity, and the impact of war) disproportionately affect the vulnerable population in
the strip.
Figure (1) Illustrates the Action Plans Recommended as per the Environmental
Protection Frameworks Proposed
9. Call for Environmental Response to Gaza Needs

9.1 Overcoming the Difficulties of Fare Environmental Reports Under the Occupation
UN-relevant entities attempted to produce reports every now and then about
environmental (and other) situation in Palestine, a mission that is repeatedly reported to face
serious difficulties due to the nature of occupation. With the shortage of comprehensive, in-
depth environmental assessment reports in Gaza, it was noted that further research is needed
to fully understand ―not only the severity of the environmental problems faced by the people
of West Bank and Gaza but also the trajectory of the degradation still to come‖ (CEOBS,
2020).
9.2 Environmental Impact on Gaza Food Production
The contamination of water, the non-availability of energy, as well as the restrictions

and control of Palestinian movements have a toll on the food production activities. This has
affected the harvesting of thyme and herbal plants, besides agriculture and crop care.
The environmental impact could increase due to the Gazans having been forced to be
displaced during the 50-plus days in the 2023 war.
The environmental impact on Gaza's food production due to bombing with hazardous
materials can be profound and multifaceted. The bombings can introduce a range of toxic
substances into the environment, which have the potential to contaminate soil, water, and
air—three crucial elements for agricultural productivity. Gaza authority should call upon all
the environmental experts and activist to come and help in testing the following factors that
lead to more deterioration and risks of food insecurity: soil contamination, water pollution,
water pollution, loss of arable land, disruption of agricultural activities, impact on
biodiversity, psychological impact on farmers, and long-term soil health. Gazan‘s need to take
this issue to international courts to claim damages to people's life from the Israeli government.
Studies show that explosives and other hazardous materials can deposit heavy metals
and other contaminants in the soil. These substances can be taken up by plants, thereby
entering the food chain, and can also alter the soil chemistry, affecting its fertility and the
growth of crops. In the meanwhile, the destruction of infrastructure can lead to the
contamination of water supplies with hazardous materials. In an area like Gaza, where water
resources are already scarce, this can severely impact irrigation and the availability of clean
water for agricultural use.
Even the air quality can be affected by the use of hazardous materials used in the
bombs. The release of toxic particulates and gases into the air can release further
contaminants which can and would affect crop health and yield. Prolonged exposure to
polluted air can stress plants and reduce their productivity. Studies show that Bombings can
render large tracts of agricultural land unusable due to the presence of unexploded ordnances
or craters, leading to a direct loss of food production capacity. This also would lead to the loss
of crops and livestock, along with the inability of farmers to tend to their fields, which can
lead to a significant drop in local food production.
The bombings that Gaza received, especially in 2023, have disrupted the local
ecosystems and biodiversity, which are essential for maintaining the ecological balance
necessary for agriculture, including pollination and pest control. This would again affect the
safety of food consumed.
The psychological stress experienced by the population, including fishermen and the
farmers, due to bombings and the destruction of their boats and their farms can impact their
capacity to manage seafood and agricultural production effectively.
(2023 War)
It is expected also that the bombing would have a long-term impact on the Gaza soil
health which can be significant, as contaminants may degrade soil quality and productivity
over time, requiring extensive remediation efforts to restore land to agricultural use. The
cumulative effect of these factors can increase the risk of food insecurity in Gaza. A decrease
in local food production can lead to a reliance on imported food, which may not be as readily
available due to blockades and economic constraints.
9.3 Environmental Impact on Gazans Health
Even before the 7th of October, Palestinians faced an increased exposure to climate-
related hazards such as water scarcity, food insecurity, and displacement as a result of Israeli
military occupation according to UNDP (2023) in (Visualizing Palestine, 2023).
The rising rates of cancer and kidney failure in the Gaza Strip is highly attributed to a
complex construct that is made from environmental pollution, life style and the socio-
economic factors. Due to its unique geopolitical context, Gaza faces significant environmental
challenges that contribute to health problems. This includes pollution of air, water, and soil
due to inadequate waste management, industrial emissions, and the use of contaminated water
for irrigation, besides pesticides and chemicals.
The water crisis in Gaza led to a scarcity of clean drinking water and contamination of
groundwater with seawater and sewage, which poses serious health risks. Contaminated water
is considered one of the main causes of kidney failure and contributes to the risk of cancer.
Besides, the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip has severely limited the availability of
medical supplies, advanced medical equipment for the early diagnosis and effective treatment
of diseases like cancer and kidney failure.
The unstable environment is also participating in high levels of stress and psychological
trauma which are contributing to the development of chronic diseases. The exposure to
hazardous materials as a result of the consistent military actions by the Israeli forces have a
potential contribution on the increase of communicable and non-communicable diseases.
CEOBS (2022)
9.4 Mitigating Short- vs. Long-term Risks Environmental Impact on Gaza
Wars on Gaza can be studied not merely about causality and surface injuries, as brutal
as this is, but also about health and environmental risks hidden in the weapons used and their
impacts and in the deterioration of life quality and the quality of three elements of life water,
air, and soil. It is also in food security, and human dignity, education, infrastructure, and
human rights. Environmental rights in supporting a healthy safe environment sums it all. UN
(2018b)
UN (2009) mentioned that Israel has imposed restrictions on the movement of people
and goods at Gaza‘s border crossings since June 2007 and further reduced supplies of fuel and
electricity to the Gaza Strip in September 2007. This has had a severe impact on water and
sanitation services in Gaza. This also has it devastating toll on the public health and the wider
environment at risk, not only in Gaza but even on Israeli settlements nearby.
While environmental damage in Gaza is evident, its extent and long-term impacts are
difficult to measure. For example, pollution caused by military activities goes unreported, as
there are no monitoring systems existing in Gaza, nor are any results expected to be shared by
Egypt or the Occupation. Furthermore, negative environmental impacts of that nature are
likely to continue and accumulate, with the continuous militant heavy machinery and air
strikes assault and siege on Gaza with absence of any existing pollution monitoring station or
system on the ground. From the first days of the latest war on Gaza, many videos on social
media by press reporters and people of Gaza attempted to document the environmental
damage. Previous assaults on Gaza also had video documentations, but in the latest one, as it
seemed to be an announced final genocide on the Gaza population, everyone in Gaza seemed
to have made sure that their story was told before they were killed. In the personal stories‘
scenes from neighborhoods, soil and air were documented in the process. In the coming
sections, information is extracted from previous existing reports, to form a brief
understanding of what to expect after the current on-going lethal weapons war on the Gaza
environment.
10. Discussion and Conclusion

10.1 Discussion of Environmental Response Required for Gaza Today
The analysis of Gaza's environmental impact before and post 7th of October 2023 war,
need to be carried out first to emphasise the response recommended in this paper. The use of
internationally prohibited weapons and EWIPA would have at least its short- and long-term
impact on Gaza and Gazans. The local authorities in Gaza should measure and check the
extent of the use of white phosphorus bombs, to design the urgent needs and define the type
of application demands.
The authority in Gaza should also give priority to establishing unique waste
management suitable for the Gaza situation and even potable waste treatment plants. More
importantly to say that Gazans need to address the necessity for sustainable, clean water with
both international organisations and pursue the right to access such basic human rights in any
future negotiations. Developing the use of solar energy and building emergency clean energy
systems present itself as an important necessity.
10.2 Action Plans Recommended for Gaza Environmental Safety
Based on the theoretical frameworks proposed, they provide a multi-dimensional lens

for realizing the complex environmental challenges in Gaza, specifically after the war that
started on October 7th, 2023. By combining insights from sustainable development, resilience
theory, health-environment interactions, political ecology, environmental justice,
environmental-focused human-rights, , and the war-environment nexus; this paper offers a
comprehensive analysis of the situation in Gaza and a clear strategy that could be summarized
by the following action plans shown in Table (3).
(2023 War)
Table (3) Summary of Immediate Action Plans Needed for Rehabilitation or Protection
Gaza Environmental Safety
Type of Action Reference Time Detailed Actions Outcomes

Plan Framework Recommended
Short-Term 1-Environment- Immediately Absorb coming disturbances and
Actions Health (even if the war is accelerate Improvement of Gazans
stopped after ‗Quality of Life‘.
APHA (2020) November 2023)
2-Resilience After the war directly
Economy-based
Framework
Buheji (2018)
3-Sustainable After the war directly
Development
Framework
UN (2018a)
Med-Term 1-Human Rights Within two years Collect more professional pieces of
Actions Environmental Law after the war evidence on preaching human
rights environmental law (including
UN (2018b) deterioration of Fauna & Flora)
2- Environmental - Within One year
Military Actions after the war
CEOBS (2022)
Long-Term 1-Political Ecology Within three years Assess Environmental Burdens
Actions Framework after the war from Legal and Political
Perspective (i.e., pollution, water
Khan, M (2013) scarcity, impact of war) affecting
2-Environmental Within five years Vulnerable Population in Gaza
Justice Framework after the war
Ali, A (2001)
Table (3) transcends that we need to overcome the traditional disciplinary boundaries
and work multidisciplinary to overcome the type of environmental problems in Gaza after the
2023 War. There are plenty of approaches that can be extracted for each type of actions.
However, certain actions would address the interconnected nature of environmental issues in
conflict zones, such as the provision of portable water plants that provide clean water.
The authors consider that the implications of this study start when these actions are
taken into consideration and address the challenges in a holistic and sustainable manner.
10.2 Strategies of Priorities to Respond to Gaza Environmental Protection
To mitigate the risks of environmental impacts, it's essential to conduct thorough

professional environmental assessments immediately after the war. The world, and
specifically Gaza and Palestinian authorities, should exactly know the extent of contamination
after such a disastrous event and develop strategies for remediation. International support and
expertise would be required to assist in ensuring water besides food safety and security for the
affected populations, and provides plans and designs for building a resilient internal (self-
sufficiency based) water security, food security and energy plans systems, using green energy.
Other teams of expertise should be invited to Gaza to work on restoring agricultural
productivity.
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Citation: Mohamed Buheji, Khawla Al-Muhannadi, Mitigating Risks of Environmental Impacts on Gaza
- Review of Precautions & Solutions post (2023 War), International Journal of Advanced Research in
Engineering and Technology, 14(7), 2023, pp. 15-47.
Article PDF Link:
https://iaeme.com/MasterAdmin/Journal_uploads/IJARET/VOLUME_14_ISSUE_7/IJARET_14_07_002.pdf
Copyright: © 2023 Authors. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
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Mitigating Risks of Environmental Impacts on Gaza - Review of Precautions &

Article · November 2023

Khawla Al-Muhannadi Mohamed Buheji

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MITIGATING RISKS OF ENVIRONMENTAL

Keywords: Gaza, Palestine, Environmental Impact, Environment Under Occupation,

Cite this Article: Mohamed Buheji, Khawla Al-Muhannadi, Mitigating Risks of

It is difficult to describe the environmental situation in an occupied territory without

2. History of Palestine & Gaza

With the shortage of comprehensive, in-depth environmental assessment reports in

2.3 UN Resolutions on the Environment of Palestine

The UN General Assembly, in its resolution 1803 (XVII) of 14 December 1962 on

It is important to understand that the Israeli occupation controls all aspects of

2.4 Environmental History of Palestine Before & After the Occupation

2.5 Rise of Environmental Injustice in Gaza through Toxic Occupation

Control Mechanisms used by ‗Israeli‘ Occupation ―whereby valuable ecological

3. Background of Gaza Strip Environment

3.2 Environmental Status in Gaza

3.3 Gaza Challenge for Sustainability of Natural Resources

Gaza, similar to the Palestinians' occupied territories, is facing a substantial

4. Systematic Environmental Destruction

Furthermore, the destruction of the Palestinian environment was also systematically

In a study published by Airwars & COEBS (2022) to understand the impacts of

2002 Airstrikes 41 15 4 Three-stories  Destruction of

2012 Carpet bombing 180 42 11  Destroying

2019 Dozens of air raids 34  111 wounded

0201 Carpet bombing 250- 062 66 Residential  Infrastructure

0200 Al-Quds Tower in 49 17 4  360 wounded

2023 Air strikes and 20360 8241 4126 59240  Purposely

Churches water with

frameworks that should help to respond to the necessities of environmental protection in

The identified environmental protection response frameworks were prioritized by short-

The outcome of this methodology is formulated an environmental assessment called

6. Analysis of Gaza Environmental Impact Post 7th of October 2023 War

6.2 Environmental Impact of Weapons Used Against Gaza

The long-lasting ecological costs of wars is a hot topic in context of sustainability,

Palestinian scientists and authority, as well as international NGOs, repeatedly warned

6.3 Use of EWIPA

6.4 The Consistent Use of White Phosphorus Bombs on Gaza

According to WHO (2023), exposure to white phosphorus is harmful by all routes of

Table (2) Impacts Expected on Gaza Due to White Phosphorus Exposure

Topic Keywords Impacts New / examples Reference

Used in all recent

Topic Keywords Impacts New / examples Reference

7.0 Urgent Needs & Demands Application

7.2 Waste Treatment

As stated by Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General (2009) ―Safe drinking water and

7.3 Addressing Necessities for Clean Water

In an observatory report issued by Airwars and CEOBS, the ―immediate and

There is a lack of international protection of Palestinian water resources ―despite

The theft of Palestinian water resulted in extreme environmental negative impacts on

8. Proposing & Prioritising Frameworks of Respond to Necessities of

The known environmental protection frameworks are: political ecology framework,

8.2 Prioristing Environmental Protection Framework

8.2.1 Short-Term Environmental Protection Framework

Another framework needs to be implemented to build a more resilience economy-based

8.2.2 Medium-Term Environmental Protection Framework

8.2.3 Long-Term Environmental Protection Framework

9. Call for Environmental Response to Gaza Needs

9.2 Environmental Impact on Gaza Food Production

The contamination of water, the non-availability of energy, as well as the restrictions

9.3 Environmental Impact on Gazans Health