A Boomerang Effect: Toxic Waste and Debris from Gaza Strike Back at Israel
The brutal destruction caused by Israeli military attacks in the Gaza Strip is now turning into a boomerang. The remnants of war, in the form of toxic waste, sewage, and building debris from Gaza, are reported to have spread widely, triggering a serious public health crisis in Israeli territories.
Citing Al Jazeera on Tuesday (01/09/2026), the destruction of electricity and sanitation infrastructure in Gaza is known to have spilled more than 100,000 cubic metres of untreated raw sewage into the Mediterranean Sea every day. This complex crisis has forced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and representatives of the Peace Council to agree on the formation of a special working group.
Ocean currents moving north are carrying this waste directly into Israeli waters. This horrific condition has even forced the Ashkelon desalination plant in southern Israel to close repeatedly due to high levels of faecal bacteria contamination and toxic algal blooms.
Dianne Woodward, an author and manager at the Galilee Foundation, highlighted the fatal impact of this pathogenic waste on local marine life in both Israel and Palestine. She noted that this waste contamination could potentially affect the fish catches of local fishermen.
“Because fish migrate across maritime borders, contaminated seafood poses a direct health hazard to both Palestinian and Israeli consumers,” she explained.
In addition to the sewage crisis, Israeli authorities have recently begun moving a portion of the estimated 60 million tonnes of debris from Gaza to secret locations within Israel and the occupied West Bank. Euro-Med Monitor tracks approximately 100 Israeli trucks leaving the Gaza Strip every day carrying contaminated debris.
These ruins are highly hazardous, containing heavy metals, asbestos, explosive residues, as well as biological material and pathogens from decomposing human remains in the area.
The movement of debris across borders without adhering to environmental protocols not only threatens the lives of field personnel and 700,000 illegal settlers in the West Bank but is also condemned as an attempt to destroy evidence of genocidal crimes in mass graves. Environmental groups such as EcoPeace have long warned that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza will inevitably have a direct impact on Israel.
Woodward also cited the manoeuvre of former Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek in the 1990s, who was forced to build a sewage system for Arab areas solely to prevent a cholera outbreak from spreading to West Jerusalem.
“If Israel does not strictly follow environmental protocols, its own population will suffer the same consequences as the Palestinian citizens whose welfare is being cruelly and criminally ignored,” she asserted.