On October 7, 2023 a war broke out between the people of Israel and a militant group stationed in the Gaza Strip: Hamas. The conflict between Hamas and Israel is a long-standing dispute dating as far back as 1917. Both the Palestinian Jews and Arabs wanted control of the areas known as Palestine. Eventually, after Great Britain had control over the area, the United Kingdom named the land a place for the Jewish people, causing the anger of the Arabs to only strengthen. However, the British gave up control after the conflict between Arabians and Jews continued to cause issues, and the Palestinian Jews formed the State of Israel. Arabs retaliated, upset that they did not have control of the land. The fighting caused many people living in the area to have to leave in favor of their safety.
The conflict continued for decades as places in Palestine were divided among Arabs, Jews, and the neighboring countries. There were limits, stated in the international law, to the growth of settlements within the area, but Israeli settlements continued to form in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Gaza Strip contained some of the Israeli settlements. Though Israel withdrew from the area in 2005, they still had control of the border and airspace while Hamas had control of the land. There continued to be attacks on Gaza in 2008 and 2014 from Israel, but Hamas remained in control of the strip.
On October 7, 2023 Hamas made an attack on Israel after crossing the border. This attack resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people and 250 hostages. Following the attack the Israelis launched airstrikes on Gaza. After three weeks ground and sea attacks continued from Israel. Despite a brief time of peace in November, the fighting continued to be ongoing. Countless people died and many hostages were taken. Also, the land the war is taking place on has taken damage due to the fighting. The ground is littered with debris, the air is polluted, and clean water has become scarce. If the fighting continues, the area in which both sides of the war inhabit will become uninhabitable.
The land of the Gaza Strip has been bombarded from the airstrikes sent by Israel, leftover pieces from bombs, as well as other debris from fallen structures, objects; destruction has massacred the streets in Gaza. The pollution in Gaza has peaked due to the bombings and the on-foot invasions. Dust and ash has caused the air to become harmful to the people living in Gaza and the people attacking. Estimates done by scientists have found that carbon dioxide emissions reached more than 281,000 tons within the first couple of months of the fighting this past year. This release of carbon dioxide has caused Gaza to have a higher carbon footprint than the top twenty countries vulnerable to climate change. These results leave the area an unsafe place for civilians to continue living and provide an unhealthy environment for soldiers who are already in danger due to the fighting.
Beyond poor air quality and an increase in emissions, the environmental impact of war is seen in the water supply as well.. The water supply in Gaza has taken a massive hit after the attacks began. The ground wells, where inhabitants get ninety percent of all water, has been polluted due to many reasons: contamination from seawater, chemicals, and sewage; a overuse of the reaming water; and the destruction of the desalination plants that create freshwater from the saltwater of the Mediterranean Sea. The attacks on Gaza caused the destruction of the desalination plants and stopped civilians from having a way to reach aquifers that contained the last of the water. There has also been a loss of power to the plants that reduce the pollutants within the water to a level that the environment can handle. In total the production of water in the region has been diminished by ninety-five percent, and the streets have become rivers of sewage.
However, the results of the fighting continue to cause problems in places besides the Gaza Strip. Israel’s second largest desalination plant has become overrun by the sewage that has traveled over the region as a result of the fighting. The sewage has entered the plant’s filters, causing freshwater production to be stopped every time the sewage passes through the town of Ashkelon, the location of the plant, so the filters can be cleaned once more.
These problems must be managed or the land that Hamas and Israel are fighting for will not be habitable by the end of the war, causing there to be only extreme loss from the conflict.
References
“Israel Gaza War: History of the Conflict Explained.” BBC, BBC, 5 April 2024, www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-44124396.
Price, Kiley. “As Conflict Rages On, Israel and Gaza’s Environmental Fates May Be Intertwined.” Inside Climate News, Inside Climate News, 15 March 2024, insideclimatenews.org/news/15032024/todays-climate-gaza-israel-sewage-environment-debris-pollution/#:~:text=Scientists%20estimate%20that%20more%20than,nations%2C%E2%80%9D%20reports%20the%20Guardian.
“What is Hamas and Why Is It Fighting with Israel in Gaza?” BBC, BBC, 5 April 2024, www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67039975.
Jake • May 31, 2024 at 2:29 pm
This is a great article because it is talking about things that happen in real life. War is nothing to joke around about and this article is following this rule. War may be ugly but it is something that people are going to learn about someday. My grandpa was in the Veitnam war and he tells me all about how hard it was for him. I hope these people are ok and the war stops soon. Great article!
oliver • May 31, 2024 at 2:22 pm
I loved this I learned new things from this