Israel: Israel's genocidal war in Gaza, which has entered its third year, has not only claimed tens of thousands of lives but also unleashed an environmental disaster that experts say could take decades to undo.
According to Anadolu Agency, a report released by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) last month found that by May 2025, 97.1% of Gaza's tree crops, 82.4% of annual crops, and 95.1% of shrubland had been destroyed. Soil contamination from munitions, solid waste, and untreated sewage has made large-scale food production nearly impossible, it added. Once fertile land is now blanketed in debris and toxins, groundwater is poisoned, and the air is thick with smoke and contamination. Experts warn that the environmental collapse amounts to a slow ecocide that may outlast the war and threaten Gaza's future habitability.
While Israel's current assault has intensified Gaza's environmental destruction, experts say the degradation began long before. Mazin Qumsiyeh, director at the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability of Bethlehem University, told Anadolu that the colonization of Palestine has always been associated with an ecocide that started as early as the Zionist control in Palestine in the 1920s. He traced the destruction back to the British Mandate era (1917-1948) and said it worsened after the 1948 Nakba, when more than 700,000 Palestinians were displaced, and around 500 villages destroyed. Native trees such as oaks, carobs, and hawthorns, along with traditional crops like olives, figs, and almonds, were systematically uprooted and replaced with imported pine trees, disrupting biodiversity and altering local ecosystems.
Lesley Joseph, research assistant professor of environmental engineering at the University of South Carolina, said farms that once provided food and livelihoods have been burned, bulldozed, or rendered inaccessible, leaving soil barren and infertile. Land destruction not only disrupts biodiversity but also weakens ecosystems' ability to protect the environment as a whole, Joseph said. For instance, trees and shrubs act as carbon sinks, absorbing greenhouse gases through their leaves and stems, helping to remove them from the air and purify the atmosphere. Rebuilding Gaza's agricultural base, he said, would take at least five to 10 years - and only if peace and freedom of movement are restored.
The destruction of Gaza's water systems has compounded the environmental crisis. In its report, UNEP said the war has severely damaged Gaza's water infrastructure, raising the risk of groundwater contamination and further reducing its already limited supply. Storage reservoirs and pumping facilities have suffered an 84% loss in capacity, with only nine of 54 still functioning as of April 2025. Of 214 desalination units, only 84 remain operational. With piped systems destroyed and sanitation failing, wastewater is likely seeping into the aquifer and flowing into the Mediterranean, the report warned.
Both Joseph and Qumsiyeh warned that contamination now threatens everyone relying on shared water sources unless a large-scale cleanup begins soon. Preventing fuel and electricity from entering Gaza has halted sewage treatment, allowing waste to flow directly into the sea and onto streets. 'Currently, there's no wastewater treatment. So, there's raw sewage being pumped or dumped into the Mediterranean Sea. That's going across the Gaza Strip, just streaming down the street because nobody's treating it. There's no way to treat it, no way to collect it,' Joseph said.
By May 2025, Gaza authorities estimated that Israel had dropped 100,000 tons of explosives on the enclave. Though comprehensive data on air quality are scarce, experts warn that bombings, fires, and debris are releasing greenhouse gases and toxic chemicals that threaten health and ecosystems. UNEP estimates that more than 61 million tons of debris now litter Gaza - 20 times the combined total from all previous conflicts since 2008. It will require extensive clearing, sorting, recycling, or disposal.
A joint World Bank, UN, and EU assessment in February estimated that rebuilding Gaza would cost $53.2 billion over the next decade - including $1.9 billion for environmental recovery and $2.7 billion for water, energy, and sanitation. 'You can work your way towards recovering. There's always a way to recover. I don't want anybody to think that there's no going back,' Joseph said. However, he noted that it will take a lot of money, people, time, and a whole lot of political will. Qumsiyeh emphasized that rebuilding Gaza's environment will require a long-term commitment and international investment.