By: Sophie Jacobs, Tulane University, Hasbara Fellow
Liora Altman-Sagan & Sophie Jacobs
Israel and the Environment
Prof. Fleischer
12.10.18
Judea, Samaria, Gaza, and the Environment
In recent years, the topic of the environment has taken on a polarizing identity. Instead of remaining in the realm of science, subjected to the discretion of educated and qualified scientists, the environment has become a topic injected into the political consciousness of most societies. It has been a point of contention in countries like the United States of America, where the acknowledgement of climate change and other various environmental issues indicates a political allegiance. In addition to politics, the environment has been linked to economic concerns, as environmental regulations have the potential to impact various industries that have historically aided in the deterioration of the planet. Political and economic interests needless to say go hand in hand with social interactions, which have also played a major part in dictating the current state of the environment. In a region that is no stranger to polarity, the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria and Gaza have all faced various conflicts with the environment, exacerbated by politics, economics, and social interactions. Since the environment is a subcategory of the scientific field, it should be approached in an unbiased manner. However, the political, economic, and social circumstances of these territories have made it nearly impossible to objectively investigate the environmental issues of the regions without acknowledging and evaluating the external, non-environmental forces at play. In the disputed territories, the environment is not an isolated issue, as it interacts and often conflicts with all of the other various interests and considerations that affect the areas. With the understanding that the environment cannot be regarded without at least mentioning the other connected conflicts, it is clear that neither Judea, Samaria, nor Gaza possess sufficient environmental policies, regardless of the status of enforcement. In the past, the Israeli popular opinion was that the environmental issues in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza were not of concern to Israel. The Israeli government’s belief that the pollution produced in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza was not its responsibility led to great neglect of these issues. However, since Israel is a small country, the environmental issues created in bordering Judea, Samaria, and Gaza eventually began to adversely affect Israel, which has brought about a new wave of thought in dealing with the environment challenges in these contentious lands. These environmental issues must be critically addressed through a multifaceted lens that includes the impending impact to national and international politics, economics, and social relations.
One of the main political issues inextricably linked to the environment, for better or worse, is that of ownership of the disputed territories. Though Israel fully disengaged from Gaza in 2005, Israel is still somehow charged with solving many of Gaza’s problems–specifically, the environmental problems. In 2005, when Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip, displacing over 8,000 Israeli citizens, the Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority reached out to the United Nations Environmental Program, requesting an assessment of the disengaged areas. From this point on, Gazans were fully in control of their water supply, which included three subpar wastewater treatment plants. Foreign-funded sewage treatment projects were also in the works, however these initiatives halted after internationally recognized terrorist organization Hamas won the 2006 elections in Gaza. Hamas’s election also led to the end of possible desalinization efforts in Gaza as a result of sanctions.[1] Israel very clearly cut ties with Gaza in 2005 during the controversial disengagement, yet due to concerns with the Hamas regime, the international community still possesses the perhaps questionable expectation that Israel is responsible for the resulting environmental mess in Gaza. Most recently, Environmental Protection Minister Ze’ev Elkin declared, “As far as we are concerned, after Israel left Gaza, responsibility should not have been imposed on us…Egypt is no less responsible.”[2] While Elkin’s viewpoint may be unpopular, it is interesting to consider why Egypt has not taken on more of the burden of Gaza. To add to the complications, Hamas has incited continuous violence against Israeli citizens through advanced terror tactics, which has made Israel hesitant to extend a helping hand to the territory, in addition to enacting various sanctions[3] and a blockade[4] on Gaza. Despite the threat posed by Hamas and Israel’s belief that it is not responsible for the environmental concerns in the Gaza Strip, Israel still proposed a plan in February of 2018 to provide $1 billion in aid to specifically assist with the Gaza Strip’s electricity, desalinization, and natural gas resources. Israel announced that the $1 billion dollar aid package was contingent on the Palestinian Authority regaining control over the Gaza Strip.[5] Israel has previously allotted money to Gaza, intended to be used to improve the infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. Instead of aiding in the advancement of infrastructure for its people, Hamas used this funding to build tunnels into Israel with the intention of killing and terrorizing Israeli civilians.[6] Hamas’s control over the Gaza Strip makes Israel’s involvement in addressing the environmental crisis in Gaza even more complicated.
One of the central environmental difficulties plaguing Gaza is that of water. In a region that is notorious for only having two seasons (dry and wet), the Gaza Strip sits at a “transitional area between the temperate Mediterranean climate to the east and north and the arid climate of the Negev and Sinai Deserts to the west and south.”[7] This location sets Gaza in a semi-arid climate, which only produces 20-40 centimeters of rainfall annually.[8] The natural precipitation is not nearly enough to replenish Gaza’s aquifer, the main source of water that its people overly rely on for their water needs: “The only natural fresh source available is the coastal aquifer, a soggy sponge of sediment layers that slopes down to the sea.”[9] However, more than 90% of this water source is unusable, as it has been found “not suitable for drinking purposes as a result of elevated chemical contaminants as well as micro-biological organisms.”[10] To add to this crisis of not having enough water, the population continues to climb, estimated at over 1.8 million people, which stresses the demand and depleting supply even more so.
In addition to not having enough water, the water that is available to Gazans (primarily from the aquifer) is almost entirely polluted. Between 1967 and 1987 the salinity in the aquifer greatly increased as a result of seawater intrusion. To add to this natural contamination, the people of Gaza have unintentionally contributed greatly to the pollution in a variety of ways. The most impactful form of human-made pollution has been the mistreatment of wastewater. Gaza does not possess adequate facilities to properly dispose of its sewage and other forms of waste. As a result, Gazans harm themselves through this lack of infrastructure. The Palestinian National Authority Ministry of Environmental Affairs issued two reports to investigate alleged environmental destruction as a result of the political situation. They claimed that the damage included “the burning of orchards and olive groves, enforced unhealthy storage of medical waste due to border closures, difficulties in maintaining water supplies, and the destruction of the Gaza central wastewater treatment plant.”[11] It is important to note that Hamas’s hostilities prompted these responses, in addition to neglecting to institute an organized and effective water utility unit.[12] Another issue that contributes to pollution is agriculture. Crop irrigation uses 70% of Gaza’s water, however the farmers’ fertilizers further the pollution of the water with harmful elements like nitrate. Farmers have also illegally dug wells to irrigate their crops, which depletes the aquifer even more so.[13] Though the wells and the fertilizers ultimately harm Gazans’ water supply, farmers need to grow crops in order to make a livelihood. Another consequence of the pollution is that the “sewage in the Gaza Strip is flowing into the Mediterranean Sea and rivers.”[14] This thus expands Gaza’s pollution problem by damaging Israeli aquifers and waterways with the maltreated sewage from Gaza. Gaza’s water pollution is no longer an isolated issue—it affects Israel, making it in Israel’s interest for a treatment plant to be built in Gaza.
A reasonable person would agree that having access to clean, drinkable water is a basic human right. While there is some usable water available in Gaza, most of this is either bottled or heavily filtered. Clean water is expensive for Gazans, especially when the average annual income is 600 dollars.[15] Tap water in Gaza is usually dangerous, even though Gazans still drink it because they have no other options. As a result of this dilemma, there have been “catastrophic records on diseases caused by water directly and indirectly.”[16] This environmental issue has developed into a full-scale public health crisis, as waterborne and foodborne diseases will increase if water and sanitation services are not improved. To combat this and improve the general public health in Gaza, and ultimately save lives, the water quality must be improved and addressed.[17]
While bottled and filtered water is an answer to this problem, it is not a sustainable or economically reasonable solution. One of the more obvious solutions to improve water quality is to add more water treatment plants. Another solution that Gazans could borrow (and have considered) from Israel is desalinization, though it is also extremely expensive. Water treatment of any kind, however, requires an enormous amount of electricity. Besides being water deficient, Gaza also lacks consistent and reliable electricity. Gaza primarily relies on Israel as its main supplier of electricity. Israel provides electricity to Gaza, but “the Palestinians decide the internal distribution of electricity inside the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, the Gaza Strip has unutilized electrical production capacity that could be used to operate the sewage purification facility, among other things.”[18] With Hamas as the reigning power in Gaza, however, electricity has been used to advance their terror agenda and harm Israel, the provider of the power. As a result, Israel has shut off the power supply to Gaza in the event of a Hamas attack or if they suspect that Hamas is using the power maliciously. Power blackouts are not good for wastewater disposal and can interrupt treatment processes. Before Hamas was elected, “5 MCM per year of drinking water was being piped into Gaza by Mekorot, the Israeli national water company, and an additional 5 MCM had been agreed.”[19] Hamas’s rise to power has strained political relations, which has impeded on many solutions to obtaining and bettering clean water in Gaza. As the current situation stands, Gaza’s water problem affects its people’s public health, economic standings, and the health of the environment itself.
Similarly to the situation in the Gaza Strip, the issue of the environment is not only overlooked in Judea and Samaria, but rather it is also made increasingly more complicated by the layers of ownership. There are an estimated 450,000 Israeli citizens living in the Israeli-secured Area C sections of Judea and Samaria. Area B possesses mostly individuals who identify as Palestinians and it is jointly secured by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, while Area A is entirely occupied by those identifying as Palestinians and under the Palestinian Authority’s control. Thus, it is often unclear who has jurisdiction over certain areas of broader governance, like that of the environment. The Palestinian Authority wants to act as an independent body, similarly to the Gazans, though they blame Israel for many of their environmental problems and expect Israel to fix those said problems. While the debate over who should claim responsibility for preserving and improving the environment in Judea and Samaria has come to a halt, the deterioration of the environment has only advanced. Regardless of which governing body should in fact be liable for addressing and handling the issues pertaining to the environment in Judea and Samaria, Israel’s neglect of the situation has resulted in a decline in the health of Israel’s environment, induced by the lack of environmental policies in Judea and Samaria.
A huge issue plaguing both Judea and Samaria and Israel is the lack of regulated waste disposal sites within Judea and Samaria. 2,000 tons of trash are produced daily in Judea and Samaria by the over 2 million inhabitants identifying as Palestinians. Less than half of this waste is disposed properly in landfills, forcing the remainder to be expelled into various rivers within Judea and Samaria in the form of raw sewage. The polluted river water then seeps into Israel’s groundwater, “polluting the water sources that belong to [the Israelis and the Palestinians].”[20] Additionally, the groundwater pollution affects the cleanliness of the water in the mountainous aquifers that are the main source of freshwater for those living in Judea and Samaria.[21] This is largely problematic because in addition to the long term adverse effects of pollution on the environment, the groundwater, which “is the main source of drinking water for over 80% of the…population,”[22] has become extremely contaminated. However, it is difficult to understand the nature of these pollutants because sufficient qualitative assessments are not performed, which also means that no future plans can be developed to address the issue of sustainable water sources. Currently, the infrastructure of the aquifers is not suitable for the amount of wastewater produced in Judea and Samaria. Investment in appropriate infrastructure for the aquifers is extremely important for aquifers in this region because “the karstic nature of the Palestinian aquifers, with flow infiltrating the ground mainly through open fissures and cracks, leaves them especially vulnerable to pollution.”[23] The lack of economic resources in Judea and Samaria means that the creation of a budget to aid in these issues is not prioritized, creating long terms issues for those living within Judea and Samaria.
Not only do the aforementioned economic problems in Judea and Samaria make it nearly impossible to have adequate infrastructure in order to maintain a clean environment, but they have indirectly caused the water conditions to dramatically deteriorate. The cost for an Israeli company to properly dispose of 1 ton of waste at a trash collection facility within Israel is significantly more expensive than if the same company were to dispose of the waste in Judea and Samaria. Because of the dire economic situation in Judea and Samaria, inhabitants of the region are willing to sacrifice their environment for what large corporations would consider pocket change.[24] While the people living in effected areas of Judea and Samaria were initially willing to take on the coporations’ waste without much consideration of the future adverse effects on the environment, Israelis were not considering the proximity of Judea and Samaria and what affects Israel’s environment would feel resulting from improperly discarding garbage. Recently, the Israeli government has closed off the border between Israel and Judea and Samaria to the transport of trash, however this change comes only from the acknowledgement of the damage to the environment that has already occured.
Changes need to made immediately in order to fix the environmental issues facing Judea and Samaria. Funds must be allocated to comprehensively evaluate the current situation and the status of all factors impacting the environment, such as structure of aquifers, air pollutants, and methods of trash disposal. Once both a qualitative and quantitative analysis have been performed, efforts to improve infrastructure in Judea and Samaria can take place. Similarly to Gaza, there need to be more water and trash treatment facilities in Judea and Samaria. Projects to improve such facilities are extremely costly, and while Israel can cover some of the enormous burden, the responsibility to fund such projects should not fall solely on Israel, and thus funds should be provided by the Palestinian Authority and the international community.
Clearly, the issue of air and water pollution in both the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria is not simply a dilemma of developing technology to combat issues in the environment. Rather, the task of improving both environments is one deeply rooted in politics and ownership of land. The deterioration of the environment should not be ignored while countries prioritize their political agendas. Unfortunately, climate change does not halt while nations debate over responsibility of the health of our planet. Neither the economic situation in the Gaza Strip nor the economic situation in Judea and Samaria allow for either entity to independently address the conditions of their environment. In addition to the controversy over Israel’s disputed territories, Israel’s proximity to both the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria makes it an easy target to assume responsibility for the environmental concerns in the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria and to consequently share some of these concerns. However, the issue of the environment must be addressed objectively by all nations, based exclusively on scientific assessment. The environment is not an isolated issue that is dependent on ownership. Rather, the environment is something that affects the international community at large, making it a global responsibility to jointly help, improve, and solve the crises that arise and affect economic, political, and social interests. These environmental issues go deeper than just Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.
[1]B. Shomar, “Groundwater contaminations and health perspectives in developing world case study: Gaza Strip,” Environ Goechem Health 33:189-202, 2011.
[2]TOI Staff, “Minister: Israel and Egypt Share Equal Responsibility for Gaza,” The Times of Israel, www.timesofisrael.com/minister-israel-and-egypt-share-equal-responsibility-for-gaza/.
[3]Thu Thu Aung and Simon Lewis, “’We Can’t Go Anywhere’: Myanmar Closes Rohingya Camps but…” Reuters, 6 Dec. 2018.
[4] Jerome Slater, “Just War Moral Philosophy and the 2008–09 Israeli Campaign in Gaza,” International Security 37(2):44-80, October 2012.
[5]Noa Landau, “Israel Presents $1 Billion Rehabilitation Plan for Gaza, but Demands Palestinian Authority Take Over,” Haaretz, 1 Feb. 2018, www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israel-offers-1-billion-rehab-plan-for-gaza-at-emergency-confab-1.5784390.
[6] Dan Feferman, “Your Complete Guide to Hamas’ Network of Terror Tunnels,” The Tower, www.thetower.org/article/your-complete-guide-to-hamas-network-of-terror-tunnels/.
[7] Shomar, “Groundwater contaminations,” 190.
[8] John Bohannon, “Running Out of Water – and Time,” Science, 1085-1087, 25 Aug. 2006.
[9] Bohannon, “Running Out.”
[10]Shomar, “Groundwater contaminations,” 189.
[11] Shomar, “Groundwater contaminations,” 190.
[12] Bohannon, “Running Out.”
[13] Bohannon, “Running Out.”
[14] “US Congressmen: Gaza pollution threatens Israel,” Globes, 28 July 2016, Business Insights: Essentials, 9 Dec. 2018.
[15] Bohannon, “Running Out.”
[16] Shomar, “Groundwater contaminations,” 189.
[17] Shomar, “Groundwater contaminations,” 190.
[18] “US Congressmen,” Globes.
[19] Bohannon, “Running Out.”
[20]“’Judea and Samaria Have Become the Garbage Can of the State’.” The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com, 13 Jan. 2017, www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Environment/Judea-and-Samaria-have-become-the-garbage-can-of-the-state-478275.
[21]Marwan, “Arabian Journal.”
[22]Marwan, “Arabian Journal.”
[23] Marwan, “Arabian Journal.”
[24] “’Judea and Samaria Have Become the Garbage,” The Jerusalem Post.
