{"id":18454,"date":"2025-09-22T17:44:48","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T16:44:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gnhre.org\/?p=18454"},"modified":"2025-09-22T17:44:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T16:44:49","slug":"ecocide-in-gaza-an-environmental-justice-struggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gnhre.org\/?p=18454","title":{"rendered":"Ecocide in Gaza: An Environmental Justice Struggle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nora Belkhiter<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And suddenly, it was not just the Palestinians. It was the soil they walked on, the air they breathed, the water they drank, the home they lived in, the orchards and olive trees they so earnestly cultivated. But if we look closely, maybe it was not so sudden, not so accidental. It was there all along. The struggle of the people and the land who are so inextricably linked has been long documented, but it has fallen on the deaf ears and blind eyes of the law. However, in light of the Pacific Islands\u2019 proposal<\/a> for the recognition of ecocide as the fifth crime under the Rome Statute<\/a>, there is a unique opportunity for change. Environmental justice, beyond its conventional understanding and combining all its facets, is directly concerned with this call for accountability. Environmental injustice in Gaza means a lot of things, but in its totality and most encompassing way it means ecocide. It reverberates and depicts why Gaza does not just fulfil the elements of ecocide but is the reason why it should exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the Definition of Ecocide?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The definition included in the proposal was drafted by an Independent Expert Panel<\/a>. As such ecocide means:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cunlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environmental Justice in Gaza<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environmental justice as a movement was born out of resistance to the environmental racism in Warren County, USA, that saw the dumping of toxic waste in a community with a majority black population. It is concerned with the disproportionate environmental burdens and systematic inequalities that marginalised, minority and vulnerable populations and Indigenous Peoples are burdened with. The movement, now global, is multifaceted, and exists in different forms and contexts. And so, Murdock<\/a> encourages us to take an \u2018expansive\u2019 approach in considering what environmental justice encompasses. And this is precisely the point. At a time of such profound environmental destruction, ecocide is an environmental justice issue that extends beyond the conventional understanding of the movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is crucial issue that engages with human suffering through environmental annihilation without obliging humans to prove specific harm to them or close proximity to their land, for it to be recognised as criminal. On a first reading as Quenivet<\/a> rightly pointed, the definition appears eco-centric, focusing solely on environmental harm. This approach though, neither ignores nor excludes the human connection. Human life is encompassed throughout. It is considered in the environment\u2019s \u2018biosphere\u2019, and in the severe and widespread requirements of the crime. The case of ecocide in the context of Gaza represents such severe destruction, making it impossible to describe the environmental devastation without reference to human torment. It does not exist in isolation. Each of its limbs connects to more conventional forms of injustice such as environmental colonialism, intergenerational injustice and injustices found in all contexts of the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ecocide is also an environmental justice issue when one looks beyond Western relationships of ownership with the environment and conceptualises environmental harm as harm to people\u2019s identity. In his policy brief on environmental crimes<\/a> under the Rome Statute the Prosecutor recognised the \u2018central role\u2019 of the environment in the life of Indigenous Peoples. Ecocide compliments this recognition as it engages with understandings of identity and land proximity in a way that current international law on environmental protection does not. Palestinians are deeply connected<\/a> to their land, the olive trees, the figs, the fish, so the harm perpetrated on the environment in its own right, is harm perpetrated on the Palestinians. Separation from their land when it is damaged to the extent that it is no longer recognisable<\/a> or through expulsion \u2018is like death itself\u2019<\/a>. This connection is also reflected in their poetry and contributes to an understanding that humans are part of nature and nature is part of human identity<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ecocide in Peace<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The existing legal framework under the ICC only engages with environmental damage during war time. The ecocide proposal expands this protection to times of peace. The only requirement is that the acts are \u2018unlawful\u2019 or \u2018wanton\u2019. This covers acts which are in contravention with national or international law, or acts committed recklessly and whose consequences are \u2018excessive\u2019 to the benefits anticipated. The latter engages with questions of proportionality which may limit the scope of protection, as Quenivet submits, where conduct is justified in light some social or economic advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, it opens up the scope for the recognition of the systematic and silent ecocide practices that existed in Gaza prior to October 7th<\/sup>. Research by Al Mezan documented that \u201835% of Gaza\u2019s agricultural land\u2019 between 2000-2023 had been destroyed by Israel for the purpose of establishing \u2018no-go buffer zones\u2019<\/a>, an unlawful practice. Similarly, thorough investigation by Forensic Architecture<\/a> has documented the repeated \u2018bulldozing of agricultural and residential lands\u2019 and the use of airborne herbicides, since 2014, near Gaza\u2019s eastern border. These are unlawful<\/a> practices of land seizure and as such proportionality cannot be employed to justify them. Their regularity represents a pattern of \u2018systematic destruction of Palestinian agriculture\u2019<\/a>, leaving \u2018no traces of prior life\u2019<\/a>  due to its devastating effects on soil quality and food production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, can ecocide encompass other practices in the context of Israel\u2019s \u2018settler-colonial project<\/a>\u2019? For example, Francesca Albanese\u2019s report<\/a> highlighted Israel has controlled and severely limited the daily water consumption of Palestinians. Israeli citizens have enjoyed an average water consumption that was \u2018three and a half times higher\u2019<\/a> than Palestinians under circumstances of peace. Then, in the process of land dispossession, native plants, olive trees in particular, have been systematically uprooted and replaced with European Pine Trees<\/a>. But, perhaps ecocide may fall short in its recognition here. Or it may be an opportunity to appreciate that erasing the environment\u2019s identity, by fundamentally altering its character, is ecocide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image by hosny salah<\/a> from Pixabay<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Substantial Likelihood Of Severe Environmental Damage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The requirement of substantial likelihood of severe damage involves \u2018very serious adverse changes, disruption or harm\u2019 to the environment including to \u2018human life\u2019. Israel\u2019s military operations in Gaza are not just likely to cause severe damage, they have, in fact, severely impacted all elements of Gaza\u2019s environment and the human life of Palestinians. Yet this risk based approach accounts for severe harm, not yet occurred or documented, reflecting a much needed a preventative form of environmental justice. For if it was results based, it would be too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2.1million Palestinians who have escaped death from direct military advances find themselves displaced within Gaza and living in sub-standard conditions. With waste management facilities purposefully damaged and rendered inoperative, Palestinians have had to resort to the use temporary waste grounds.<\/a> These are inappropriate for waste disposal and are located too close to where Palestinians shelter. They compile solid and liquid sewage waste, and unprocessed medical waste, creating \u2018an environmental catastrophe\u2019<\/a>. Though exact figures are not available, such waste management systems severely contaminate water and soil, and have been a grave source of diseases<\/a> like hepatitis A and respiratory infections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, just in the first 60 days since October 7th<\/sup> 2023 a group of experts<\/a> calculated that the CO2 emissions surpassed the \u2018annual emissions of 20 individual countries\u2019 causing severe air quality and climate disruption. With over 85,000 tons of explosives dropped in Gaza\u2019s densely populated environment, as of August 2024<\/a>, the number has only increased. A preliminary assessment<\/a> of these impacts revealed the high risk of soil contamination with \u2018heavy metals and other chemicals\u2019 from the bombs and debris. This contamination<\/a> is toxic for plants and animal life with immediate and severe effect in their mortality, growth and health. Thus beyond the unparalleled damage to landscape and infrastructure, Gaza\u2019s flora and fauna has been severely disrupted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, water desalination<\/a> plants have either been destroyed or cut off from Gaza\u2019s population. The degradation of water infrastructure has also had a severe impact on the soil as waste water is not sanitised. Furthermore, Israel has flooded<\/a> underground tunnels with seawater. This has created a serious risk of \u2018ecological catastrophe\u2019 as seawater seeping into the soil prevents crop growth and risks making it \u2018uninhabitable\u2019. It also risks contaminating the little drinkable water that is left. This demonstrates how closely intertwined environmental devastation and human suffering is in Gaza. And so Gaza is the reason ecocide should be recognised, so that no other ecosystem suffers such severe damage or at least without any legal accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Substantial Likelihood of Either Widespread or Long-Term Environmental Damage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Unlike the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions<\/a> and Rome Statute which only prohibit conduct that causes both a widespread and long-term environmental damage, the ecocide definition recognises that each alone is enough to constitute ecocide. The panel employed this definition because the current conjunctive test imposes an \u2018unnecessarily high\u2019 and exclusive threshold. Yet emerging reports and investigations document both a widespread and long-term environmental devastation in Gaza, though the latter is more difficult to quantify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Widespread<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Damage is widespread if it \u2018extends beyond a limited geographical area\u2026 or is suffered by an entire ecosystem or species or a large number of human beings\u2019. UNEP\u2019s most recent preliminary debris quantification<\/a>, analysing UNOSAT images until December 2024, revealed over 50 million tonnes of debris plague Gaza. This covers the entirety of Gaza\u2019s geographical area, amounting to over 365kg for every 1sqm. It also accounts for a destruction of 70% of total structures in Gaza. Some of the debris is contaminated with asbestos and unexploded ordnance which poses severe environmental and human health risks, whilst the air is polluted with \u2018toxic ash and dust\u2019<\/a>. There is no region in Gaza that is free from such pollution, with air pollution potentially spreading<\/a> to Israel and neighbouring countries like Egypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN Special Rapporteur\u2019s most recent report<\/a> on the Palestinian territories reveals the widespread suffered by Gaza\u2019s ecosystem, with 93% of Gazan agricultural forestry and fishing economies having been destroyed. South Africa\u2019s application<\/a> to the ICJ against Israel for genocide, also documented that \u2018livestock that has not been killed is facing starvation\u2019. Combined, the destruction of crops, fisheries, forests, water filtering stations and complete blockade of humanitarian aid have also placed the entire population of Gaza at \u2018high levels of acute food insecurity\u2019<\/a>, in other words starvation. This territorially and materially widespread attack against all living organisms reveals not just a fundamental disregard of Gaza\u2019s biosphere but an objective to erase life and the environment that sustains it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long-term<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The panel defined long-term as \u2018damage which is irreversible or which cannot be redressed through natural recovery within a reasonable period of time.\u2019 Most of the aforementioned destruction is long-term destruction. After 18 months of constant bombardment the damage caused cannot be naturally recovered. Clearing the land off the rubble, much of which is contaminated with asbestos<\/a>, will take up to 21 years<\/a> with significant effort. The use of white phosphorus, verified by Human Rights Watch<\/a>, has detrimental risks to humans but also seeps into the deep soil where it remains for years<\/a> causing long-term contamination.  The redevelopment of agricultural land in these conditions is unlikely for generations to come. And so, this is not just a question of environmental harm suffered temporarily but devastation that will persist long after the last bomb has been dropped. It engages with intergenerational injustice as generations yet to be born will bear the consequences. Therefore, justice through recognising ecocide as a crime and accounting for Gaza\u2019s long-term ecological collapse means justice for future generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowledge of Ecocide<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, the mental element of ecocide only requires the perpetrator to have \u2018knowledge\u2019 that their acts are substantially likely to cause an ecocide. As such, there is no requirement for a specific intent and, according to the Panel that drafted the definition, the element is satisfied where it is \u2018evident\u2019 that irreversible and long term damage is likely. This excludes \u2018incidental or collateral damage\u2019<\/a> but this is not necessarily damming to the realisation of accountability. It reflects the severity of the crime. Where severe and widespread or long-term damage has actually occurred perpetrators will find it hard to convince they lacked the knowledge of substantial risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaza is under Israeli occupation. Israel has completely placed Gaza under siege and controls all entry points. It has the ability to cut off electricity<\/a>, water<\/a> and food as it did. As such the targeting of WASH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene) infrastructure is done with the knowledge of the extent Palestinians depend on it. Carpet bombing densely populated areas can only be done with appreciation of the severity of harm and devastation this will cause. The use of chemicals in peace and war, especially where directly aimed at agriculture can only mean recognition of the danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But one need not speculate for long. Since October 7th<\/sup> 2023 these silent intentions to cause permanent environmental damage have become promises.  Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, charged with committing crimes against humanity, promised that \u2018Gaza will never return to what it was\u2019.<\/a> There is a clear, stated, purpose as Albanese<\/a> reported to make Gaza \u2018permanently impossible to live in\u2019, to make it a place where \u2018no human being can exist\u2019. And so there is a purpose that with every military advancement and attack Israel gets one step closer to complete environmental devastation. From the \u2018millions of tons of debris\u2019<\/a> that plague Gaza, to the \u2018toxic ash and dust\u2019, the asbestos that threatens Gaza\u2019s living organisms, Khan and Bakhsh also document the intentional environmental destruction. Such sinister intentions do not just fulfil the knowledge requirement but are the reason ecocide should be introduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image by hosny salah<\/a> from Pixabay, edited by author, poem written by author.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demand for Accountability<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The current international legal framework is weak and has not been sufficiently utilised. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court<\/a> (ICC), only considers environmental damage in the context of war crimes and criminalises it only if it is \u2018clearly excessive\u2019 to the projected military \u2018advantage\u2019. This largely ignores environmental damage perpetrated during peace and allows the justification of severe environmental based on a calculation of military advantage. In other words, as long as environmental desecration occurs in peace or occurs in pursuance some undefined military benefit, international criminal law under the Rome Statute neither sees nor listens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environmental justice demands meaningful accountability of perpetrators. Gaza\u2019s environment and people demand accountability for the well document annihilation perpetrated by Israel. Ecocide provides a framework, though imperfect, for legal accountability that encompasses the deeper relations between humans and the environment. It recognises environmental harm as criminal not because it affects humans but because it devastates the environment in its own right. At the same time, it recognises the often inextricable suffering of humans and allows space for its recognition in the definitions it employs. So, the fight for ecocide is a fight for accountability. It is a fight environmental justice is all too familiar with. And Gaza shocks the conscience, demanding the law\u2019s evolution, demanding the law to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source List:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

International Criminal Court, \u2018Report of the Working Group on Amendments\u2019 (1 December 2024) Pacific Islands\u2019 Ecocide Proposal https:\/\/asp.icc-cpi.int\/sites\/default\/files\/asp_docs\/ICC-ASP-23-26-ENG.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rome Statute of International Criminal Court (adopted 17 July 1998, entered into force 1 July 2002) 2187 UNTS 90 https:\/\/www.icc-cpi.int\/sites\/default\/files\/2024-05\/Rome-Statute-eng.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stop Ecocide Foundation, \u2018Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide\u2019 (June 2021) Ecocide Commentary and Core Text https:\/\/static1.squarespace.com\/static\/5ca2608ab914493c64ef1f6d\/t\/60d1e6e604fae2201d03407f\/1624368879048\/SE+Foundation+Commentary+and+core+text+rev+6.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Esme D Murdock, \u2018A History of Environmental Justice\u2019 (2020) Book Chapter in Environmental Justice: Key Issues https:\/\/ebookcentral.proquest.com\/lib\/soton-ebooks\/reader.action?c=RVBVQg&docID=6228917&ppg=25<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noelle Quenivet, \u2018The Crime of Ecocide\u2019 (1 December 2019) Journal Article https:\/\/plus.lexis.com\/uk\/analytical-materials-uk\/the-crime-of-ecocide-2019-265-6-env-liabili\/?crid=3cdea762-ea0b-4cc2-b5b5-d54f275d7f9b<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Office of The Prosecutor, \u2018Draft Policy on Environmental Crimes Under the Rome Statute\u2019 (December 2024) Policy Paper https:\/\/www.icc-cpi.int\/sites\/default\/files\/2024-12\/2024-12-18-OTP-Policy-Environmental-Crime.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nasser Abufarha, \u2018Land of Symbols: Cactus, Poppies, Orange and Olive Trees in Palestine\u2019 (3 June 2008) Journal Article https:\/\/www-tandfonline-com.soton.idm.oclc.org\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/10702890802073274#:~:text=The%20loss%20of%20the%20orange,of%20loss%2C%20a%20robbed%20nationhood<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Guardian, \u2018\u2018Ecocide in Gaza\u2019: does scale of environmental destruction amount to a war crime?\u2019 (29 March 2024) Article https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2024\/mar\/29\/gaza-israel-palestinian-war-ecocide-environmental-destruction-pollution-rome-statute-war-crimes-aoe<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mohamed Solaimane, \u2018Palestinian in Gaza mocks US president\u2019s takeover plan\u2019 (5 February 2025) Aljazeera Article https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/2\/5\/trump-is-a-madman-palestinian-in-gaza-mocks-us-presidents-takeover-plan<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamoud Yahya Ahmed and Ruzy Suliza Hashim, \u2018Resisting Colonialism through Nature: An Ecopostcolonial Reading of Mahmoud Darwish’s Selected Poems\u2019 (May 2014) Journal Article https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/270031262_Resisting_Colonialism_through_Nature_An_Ecopostcolonial_Reading_of_Mahmoud_Darwish’s_Selected_Poems<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al Mezan, Ecocide: Israel\u2019s Deliberate and Systematic Environmental Destruction in Gaza\u2019 (16 October 2024) Report Available for Download https:\/\/reliefweb.int\/report\/occupied-palestinian-territory\/ecocide-israels-deliberate-and-systematic-environmental-destruction-gaza<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forensic Architecture, \u2018Herbicidal Warfare in Gaza\u2019 (19 July 2019) Online Source Investigation https:\/\/forensic-architecture.org\/investigation\/herbicidal-warfare-in-gaza<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ICJ \u2018Legal Consequences Arising From The Policies And Practices Of Israel In The Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem\u2019 (19 July 2024) Advisory Opinion https:\/\/www.icj-cij.org\/sites\/default\/files\/case-related\/186\/186-20240719-adv-01-00-en.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, \u2018Anatomy of a Genocide\u2019 (25 March 2024) Report A\/HRC\/55\/73 https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/hrbodies\/hrcouncil\/sessions-regular\/session55\/advance-versions\/a-hrc-55-73-auv.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mazin Qumsiyeh, \u2018Environmental Justice in Palestine: Rights of Natives to Their Environment Versus Colonial Onslaught\u2019 (30 October 2023) Security Context Article https:\/\/www.securityincontext.com\/posts\/environmental-justice-in-palestine-rights-of-natives-to-their-environment-versus-colonial-onslaught#:~:text=Colonial%20apartheid%20infrastructure:%20When%20the,carrier’%20devastated%20the%20Jordan%20Valley<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, \u2018Situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967\u2019 (1 October 2024) Report A\/79\/384 https:\/\/docs.un.org\/en\/A\/79\/384<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benjamin Neimark, Patrick Bigger, Frederick Out-Larbi, Reuben Larbi, \u2018A Multitemporal Snapshot of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Israel-Gaza Conflict\u2019 (5 January 2024) Paper PDF Available https:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/sol3\/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4684768<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNEP, \u2018Environmental impact of the conflict in Gaza: Preliminary assessment of environmental impacts\u2019 (18 June 2024) Full Report https:\/\/wedocs.unep.org\/bitstream\/handle\/20.500.11822\/45739\/environmental_impact_conflict_Gaza.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa v Israel, \u2018Application Instituting Proceedings Containing a Request for the Indication of Provisional Measures\u2019 (29 December 2023) ICJ Submission GL No.192 https:\/\/www.icj-cij.org\/sites\/default\/files\/case-related\/192\/192-20231228-app-01-00-en.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shola Lawal, \u2018How Israel\u2019s flooding of Gaza\u2019s tunnels will impact freshwater supply\u2019 (3 February 2024) Aljazeera Article https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2024\/2\/3\/israel-floods-tunnels-with-seawater-what-impacts-on-gazas-water-supply#:~:text=Israel%20confirmed%20this%20week%20that,in%20the%20besieged%20Palestinian%20enclave<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protocol Additional To The Geneva Conventions Of 12 August 1949, And Relating To The Protection Of Victims Of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I) (8 June 1977) https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/genocideprevention\/documents\/atrocity-crimes\/Doc.34_AP-I-EN.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNEP, \u2018Gaza Strip-Preliminary Debris Quantification\u2019 (December 2024) UNOSAT Comprehensive Damage Assessment https:\/\/wedocs.unep.org\/bitstream\/handle\/20.500.11822\/46832\/Gaza-Debris-Quantities.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waqas Ahmed Khan and Kamil Shehzad Bakhsh, \u2018Gaza Under Siege: Environmental Disaster During Israel-Palestine Conflict, Suggestions and Solutions\u2019 (31 December 2024) Journal Article PDF available https:\/\/margallapapers.ndu.edu.pk\/site\/article\/view\/278<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), \u2018Gaza Strip: Acute Food Insecurity Situation for 1 April – 10 May 2025 and Projection for 11 May – 30 September 2025\u2019 (12 May 2025) Report https:\/\/www.ipcinfo.org\/fileadmin\/user_upload\/ipcinfo\/docs\/IPC_Gaza_Strip_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Malnutrition_Apr_Sept2025_Special_Snapshot.pdf<\/a> or Available for Download https:\/\/www.ipcinfo.org\/ipc-country-analysis\/details-map\/en\/c\/1159596\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tala Ramadan and Emma Farge, \u2018Rebuilding Gaza: Why reconstruction is a multi-billion dollar challenge\u2019 (5 February 2025) Reuters Article https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/middle-east\/war-ravaged-gaza-faces-multi-billion-dollar-reconstruction-challenge-2025-01-20\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human Rights Watch, \u2018Israel: White Phosphorus Used in Gaza, Lebanon\u2019 (12 October 2023) Online Article https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2023\/10\/12\/israel-white-phosphorus-used-gaza-lebanon#:~:text=(Beirut%2C%20October%2012%2C%202023,answer%20document%20on%20white%20phosphorus<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seyed Mohammad Mojabi, Azade Navazi, Farzane Feizi and Morteza Ghourchi, \u2018Environmental impact of white phosphorus weapons on urban areas\u2019 (2010) IEEE Article PDF Available https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/document\/5596102<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amnesty International, \u2018Israel\u2019s decision to cut off electricity supply to Gaza desalination plant cruel and unlawful\u2019 (10 March 2025)Article  https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/latest\/news\/2025\/03\/israels-decision-to-cut-off-electricity-supply-to-gaza-desalination-plant-cruel-and-unlawful\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kayum Ahmed, \u2018Israeli Authorities\u2019 Cutting of Water Leading to Public Health Crisis in Gaza\u2019 (16 November 2023) Human Rights Watch Article https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2023\/11\/16\/israeli-authorities-cutting-water-leading-public-health-crisis-gaza<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emanuel Fabian, \u2018Gallant: Israel moving to full offense, Gaza will never return to what it was\u2019 (10 October 2023) The Times of Israel Article https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/liveblog_entry\/gallant-israel-moving-to-full-offense-gaza-will-never-return-to-what-it-was\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nora Belkhiter And suddenly, it was not just the Palestinians. It was the soil they walked on, the air they breathed, the water they drank, the home they lived in, the orchards and olive trees they so earnestly cultivated. But if we look closely, maybe it was not so sudden, not so accidental. It was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1156,"featured_media":18456,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[420],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gnhre.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gnhre.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gnhre.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gnhre.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1156"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gnhre.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18454"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gnhre.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18457,"href":"https:\/\/gnhre.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18454\/revisions\/18457"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gnhre.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gnhre.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gnhre.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gnhre.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}