The Environmental Quality Authority said that carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the demolition of buildings and the use of munitions in the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip amounted to more than two million tons, and about 60 million metric tons of carbon equivalent.

This came in a report submitted by the Director of the Monitoring and Inspection Department at the Environmental Quality Authority, Bahjat Jabarin, about the effects of the aggression and its repercussions on resources and the environment in the period extending from the beginning of the aggression until last April, during a dialogue session organized by the Edamah Energy, Water and Environment Association in Jordan.

He pointed out that more than 60% of the 12,400 energy production units in homes, schools, hospitals, and industrial facilities were completely destroyed, in addition to the complete or partial destruction of nine stations that treat 120,000 cubic meters of water.

Jabareen pointed out that the aggression completely or partially destroyed biodiversity, explaining that the Gaza Strip enjoys the presence of between 150-200 species of birds, about 20 species of mammals, and 20 species of reptiles that are considered rare and threatened with extinction.

He continued: More than 270 thousand tons of domestic and industrial solid waste accumulated in alleys, streets, places of refuge, beaches, the sea, and transfer stations, without transportation, deportation, or treatment, as the transfer stations were completely or partially destroyed, at a time when there were no longer sanitary landfills. Working.

Jabarin added: The marine coasts are witnessing an accumulation of household solid waste on the beaches, with the sea environment being polluted with tens of thousands of tons of wastewater and weapons, and groundwater pollution rates have increased to more than 97%, and about 40 water wells have been completely destroyed, and 5,000 meters have been bulldozed. My length of rainwater drainage channels and manholes.

For his part, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Edama Association for Energy, Water and Environment, Duraid Mahasneh, said that all water sources have been polluted as a result of the aggression, which requires years to solve this problem.

He pointed out that the British newspaper The Guardian indicated that during just two months of the aggression on Gaza, carbon dioxide emissions equaling about 250 thousand tons were emitted, equivalent to what any European country produces in two years.

Mahasneh added that the aggression led to the pollution of marine waters and fish food consisting of microorganisms and marine plants, warning that marine water pollution is not limited to the Gaza Strip alone, but extends to the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

Mai Al-Sayegh, Director of Media and Communication at the Regional Office of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies for the Middle East and North Africa, confirmed that the attack on natural resources in Gaza violates what is stated in international humanitarian law.

She explained that there are rules during wars that cannot be violated related to the protection of humans and their dignity, as well as the natural environment, as stated in the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Convention of 1949, which prohibits harm to the environment in any form.

Al-Sayegh stressed that the lives of the people of the Gaza Strip are in danger as a result of the spread of sewage into the refugee tents, which seeps into the soil, threatening their food security in the medium and long term.

She pointed out that there are 4,000 people living in tents who share one toilet, which causes them to contract diseases, at a time when many old trees have been cut down to be used as a substitute for fuel.