The Environmental & Health Impacts of the war in Gaza
The conflict between Palestine and Israel is not one that is new; however it has gained global attention due to its escalation in October of last year. As a result, both parties have been using intense tactics, measures, and weaponry to defend themselves against unwanted violence. The common perception when discussing the impacts of war is innocent civilians being victims of a conflict they did not ask for. There is intrigue of the various ways in which civilians will try to survive and escape becoming collateral damage. While considering the lives of citizens is an imperative, the most forgotten victim of war is the environment. It is the environment that witnesses and endures unnecessary atrocity and destruction. The ongoing conflict in Gaza has not only radically transformed the lives of innocent civilians, but caused severe destruction to the land, environmental consequences, and serious threats to the health of many civilians.
Photographer Emad El Byed , 2023 , via www.unsplash.com
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
In Gaza, the environment has been subject to various types of pollution, increased CO2 emissions, and the harming of agricultural lands. When states are engaged in armed conflict, a large amount of artillery, weaponry, and military equipment are utilized. These acts can sometimes result in damage that isn’t visible over a screen, but certainly felt by the individuals experiencing it. This damage can include poor air quality, low food resources, destruction of necessary agricultural land. Additionally, military vehicles utilized to transport personnel and weaponry are moving throughout places at a higher frequency than normal. Because these vehicles require ample quantities of fuel, which in turn create numerous emissions, they pose both health and environmental risks as “explosive weapons in urban areas create vast quantities of debris and rubble, which can cause soil pollution” (ceobs.org). This soil pollution also has severe agricultural repercussions within the Gaza region, as there are individuals incredibly dependent on the food the land provides. In Northern Gaza there is a town called Beit Lahiya, notorious for its strawberries, and it has been ravaged by Israeli machinery, but this has not been the only agricultural crop affected by the weaponry utilized since the ignition of this war. Khan Younis, a region that produces majority citrus fruits, has been also severely impacted by Israeli forces. The devastation to these agricultural crops and land demonstrates the extent that war machinery has on an environment and the very fruit that it bears.
Biodiversity in a region engulfed in violence also undergoes a severe transformation of its ability to survive and live in a sustainable ecosystem. Reports of the destruction of water, sanitation, and hygiene systems within Gaza mention that “sewage has been contaminating beaches, coastal waters, soil, and freshwater”(unep.org). This means animals residing in bodies of water are being subjected to waste of civilians and of this conflict, ruining the viability of their ecosystem. This reduction of quality of biodiversity and the environment is reducing the quality of the same land that both parties want to be able to remain on.
HEALTH IMPACTS
The negative impact the surrounding ecosystem endures is only a portion of the impact of the ongoing war in Gaza. The violence also threatens the health and well-being of those who reside in the Gaza Strip. Throughout the duration of the war, many “munitions containing heavy metals and explosive chemicals which have been deployed in Gaza’s densely populated areas contaminating soil and water sources”. Reduction of safe water sources has resulted in severe dehydration among all citizens, compromising the ability to continue living in a land they have always known. This compromise is exacerbated when citizens can no longer safely inhale the air around them. A wide range of toxic pollutants fill the air as a result of the architectural collateral damage of this geopolitical conflict. When infrastructure topples, a multitude of dust and debris fill the air, much of which poses grave threats to civilians' health. There are specific types of dusts categorized as “PBM dusts which are typically a mixture of cement, metals, PCBs, silica, asbestos and other synthetic fibers” (ceobs.org). The substance “silica” comes from Portland cement and the inhalation of it can lead to issues within an individual’s upper respiratory tract, and, in severe cases, cause fibrosis. Asbestos is another harmful substance to intake and results in pulmonary disease and lung cancer. Exposure to these substances has severe implications on the physical state of those in Gaza, and is only being worsened by the ongoing shortage of accessibility to adequate health care treatment and medical professionals, another devastating consequence of the war.
Photographer Emad El Byed , 2023 , via www.unsplash.com
Health Effects of Food Insecurity
A hardship those in Gaza are facing and that is having the most severe consequences on their health is malnutrition. Malnutrition is defined as “deficiencies or excesses in nutrient intake, imbalance of essential nutrients or impaired nutrient utilization” (who.int). It is reported that 65% of children in Gaza were fed diets with “only one or no food groups”. (Issa, Arranz, Zafra, Chowdhury, Perry, 2024). Much of this malnutrition can be linked to the degradation and destruction of the farmlands that has occurred since the war began. As we know, both parties have been using various modes of attack to fight, and an outcome of this is the destruction of farmlands. It is reported that the “vegetational land, essential for feeding the Strip’s hungry population, has been damaged or destroyed by Israeli attacks” (aljazeera.com). This leaves civilians unable to use their own land to feed themselves and their children in the midst of this conflict. The health consequences of malnutrition for extended periods of time can be “hair loss and thinning, eye lesions, constant cold sensation, muscle atrophy and weakness, bone mass loss, swelling of the limbs, dry and flaky skin, and chronic constipation” (Issa, Arranz, Zafra, Chowdhury, Perry, 2024). Hundreds of children within the region are experiencing this, and are unable to obtain relief due to the longevity and increasing severity of the war. The destruction this war has caused to not just infrastructure, land, and biodiversity, but now poses a threat to the future of young children as their health is now being compromised.
CONCLUSION
The conflict between Israel and Gaza has led to unprecedented violence and death on both sides. It has transformed the lives of innocent civilians, destroyed infrastructure, damaged ecosystems, and caught the attention of the entire world. This conflict is one that requires a resolution that not only protects the lives of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire, but also helps create a sustainable and environmentally-conscious future. An end to this conflict is an end to unnecessary violence and the protection of the welfare of our planet.
Bibliography:
This is discussed further in:
Issa, Mahmous, Arranz, Adolfo, Zafra, Mariano, Chowdhury, Jitesh, Perry, Top. (2024) How Children Starve. Click here
Hussein, Mohammed & Mohammed Haddad. (2024). How Israel destroyed Gaza’s ability to feed itself. Click here
Nine out of 10 Children in Gaza lack food for growth: UNICEF. (2024) Click here
Malnutrition. Click here
Garrity, Andy. Conflict rubble: a ubiquitous and under-studied toxic remnant of war. (2024) Click here
Conflict rubble: a ubiquitous and under-studied toxic remnant of war. (2024). Click here
Weir, Doug. How does war damage the environment? (2020) Click here
Written by Blaire Curley and Sophia Hernandedz
Edited by Beatrice Bos
