Country brief: Occupied Palestinian Territories
A brief introductory overview of the environmental issues facing the Gaza Strip and West Bank, with facts, figures and further reading.
A dense population and recurring conflicts have placed the Gaza Strip’s environment under considerable pressure, damaging critical infrastructure and generating debris. Environmental governance in both Gaza and the West Bank has been made more complex by the occupation, which has compounded and often actively worsened issues such as water scarcity, pollution, land degradation and waste management. Read the OPT briefing.
Publications
Blogs
Antimicrobial resistance in Gaza, and the ecology of war
This post explores how a new study from Gaza has added weight to the hypothesis that prolonged conflicts in urban areas may be creating the perfect environmental conditions for antibiotic resistant bacteria to emerge.
Tree planting as resistance in Palestine
In this guest post, Elle Ambler of the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature explores the impact of the Israeli occupation on agriculture and food security, and the role that tree planting can play as an act of resistance.
UN report details environmental degradation in West Bank and Gaza
This blog summarises the findings of a new UNEP assessment of environmental conditions in the West Bank and Gaza, which has revealed the severity and intensity of environmental degradation.
New study on infrastructure damage in Gaza and the West Bank
A new study has examined the causes and extent of infrastructure damage in Gaza and the West Bank. Leonie Nimmo takes a look at both the consequences of slow violence under occupation, and periods of armed violence for the environment and for the viability of life.
Stress-testing the ILC’s draft principles on environmental protection during occupation
Over the summer, the International Law Commission has strengthened its draft principles on environmental protection in situations of occupation. In this blog, CEOBS teams up with Al-Haq to review the revised principles against current cases of occupation to identify any further improvements that could be made.
Fanning the flames – the environmental impact of Gaza’s incendiary kites
Since March, Palestinian protesters have been launching incendiary kites and balloons over the border into Israel. The ensuing fires have affected agricultural areas and nature reserves, with no end in sight protected areas are the conflicts’s latest environmental casualty.
How should the environment be protected in situations of occupation?
The latest report by the International Law Commission in its ongoing study into the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts deals with environmental protection in situations of occupation. This blog looks at the new draft principles, their basis and argues that they should be strengthened.
Rebuilding Gaza and the need to assess TRW risks
The widespread damage to urban areas in the latest conflict in Gaza has generated a range of toxic remnants of war, from debris, to sewage and water contamination to the residues of weapons, there is a pressing need for an environmental assessment in the affected areas.
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External content
UNEP | State of environment and outlook report for the occupied Palestinian territory 2020
Long-awaited environmental assessment of the rate and severity of environmental degradation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Forensic Architecture | Herbicidal warfare in Gaza
Reconstruction and analysis of herbicide spraying events on the Gaza border that reveals the extent to which Israeli spraying is affecting Palestinian areas, impacting on agriculture and potentially on human health.
SIPRI | A confluence of crises: On water, climate and security in the Middle East and North Africa
The impacts of climate change are particularly complex in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The region suffers from violent conflicts and severe water scarcity, while climate models show more serious scenarios here than in other regions. This paper explains how the security of the MENA region is inscribed in a new climate reality.
Al Shabaka | Climate Change, the occupation, and a vulnerable Palestine
This policy brief examines the environmental and political impact of climate change on Palestine-Israel, particularly in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), offering recommendations for political and practical climate change adaptation.
EcoPeace | Climate change, water security, and national security for Jordan, Palestine and Israel
Israel, Palestine, and Jordan are all grappling with water scarcity in different ways and to different degrees. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is considered a climate hotspot due to its natural water scarcity, low levels of socio-ecological resilience, social tensions and political conflicts, and ongoing immigration crisis. Over the course of the…
RAND | The Public Health Impacts of Gaza’s Water Crisis
This RAND study investigates the public health consequences of Gaza’s water crisis, finding that more than a quarter of all reported disease in Gaza is linked to poor water quality. The study also examines the steps necessary to improve water supplies to the Strip.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights | Effects of Aerial Spraying on Farmlands in the Gaza Strip
Report on the use of aerial herbicides by the Israeli Defence Forces on agricultural areas along the border of the Gaza Strip and its implications for human health and the environment.
OCHA | Poor infrastructure and lack of funding put over 560,000 people at risk of flooding in the Gaza Strip
During periods of rainfall, the sewage/storm water station receives rainwater mixed with sewage. This must be pumped out to the storm water infiltration ponds, to the sea or to open areas.
B’Tselem | Made in Israel: Exploiting Palestinian Land for Treatment of Israeli Waste
Israel has set out less stringent regulations in industrial zones in settlements and even offers financial incentives such as tax breaks and government subsidies. This policy has made it more profitable to build and operate waste treatment facilities in the West Bank than inside Israel.
Al-Monitor | Israeli, Palestinian environmentalists aren’t waiting on Trump peace plan
Even without a peace plan, environmentalists have recognised that the pollution and water problems need common solutions.
Brookings Institution | Still in ruins: Reviving the stalled reconstruction of Gaza
The humanitarian problems posed by the substandard living conditions in Gaza require the attention of international actors associated with the peace process. If the living conditions in Gaza do not improve in the near future, the region will inevitably experience another round of conflict, more violent than the last.
PENGO | 2014 War on Gaza Strip: Participatory Environmental Impact Assessment
This assessment seeks to identify all the potential environmental impacts of 2014’s Operation Protective Edge almost a year after it came to an end. Its findings are based on participatory research in which more than ten experts and almost a thousand Palestinians from the Gaza Strip participated.
Al-Haq | Environmental Injustice In Occupied Palestinian Territory – Problems and Prospects
This report found that insurmountable domestic legal barriers were creating environmental injustice.
UNWRA | Gaza in 2020: A liveable place?
The broad objectives of this study were to: highlight the longer-term effects and implications of current developmental and social trends and challenges affecting the Gaza Strip; raise awareness of these both locally and internationally; and, inform the strategic programming of the UN.
Zoï Environment Network | Environment and security on the Occupied Palestinian Territory
The report reveals in a striking manner the linkages between environment and security in the occupied Palestinian territory.
UNEP | Desk study on the environment in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
The aim of this desk study was to outline the state of the environment and identify major areas of environmental damage requiring urgent attention.