Reference number: 33 / 2023
Date: June 5, 2023
Native language: Arabic
Press release
On the occasion of the World Environment Day…
International Commission “Hashd”, the Israeli occupation is to blame for the worsening condition of natural resources in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The occasion occurs this year as Israeli occupation forces continue to harm environmental components in the Gaza Strip through military strikes and organized violations, as well as their strict siege for the 16th year in a row, resulting in an escalating environmental reality. The environmental issues in Gaza continue to threaten inhabitants’ health and prohibit them from having access to a clean, healthy, and safe environment.
Today, Monday, June 5, is World Environment Day, which the world recognizes since 1972 based on a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, with the goal of spotlighting the world’s most important environmental concerns, particularly environmental crises that endanger life on Earth. “Beat Plastic Pollution” is the focus for this year.
This year’s anniversary coincides with an increase in Israeli occupation forces’ violations of the most basic human rights and environmental components in the occupied Palestinian lands. Israeli attacks on the Palestinian environment endanger all elements of life in the West Bank, the occupied city of Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, and these attacks take many forms within the context of the strategy of purposeful disruption of the Palestinian environmental balance. Among them are for example, the confiscation and razing of land for settlement, the removal of plant life, the cutting of trees, the theft of sand, the pumping of sewage into farms, the dumping and burial of solid and toxic waste, the misappropriation of the soil, the eradication of forests, and the elimination of wildlife and the disturbance of wild animal life, and the pollution of water.
In the Gaza Strip, the illegal blockade, as well as repeated attacks, in addition to the ongoing power outage crisis, exacerbated the indicators of environmental component destruction, negatively affecting the population’s access to safe and sufficient water, in light of the continued occupation control over more than (85%) of Palestinian water resources, and the result is that approximately (97%) of the coastal basin water is not compatible with the standards of the World Health Organization. The problem of wastewater treatment continues in the Gaza Strip as a result of the occupation’s limitations on the introduction of equipment required for wastewater treatment facilities.
This pushes local governments to release untreated sewage into the sea, exacerbating the problem of beach water pollution and causing catastrophic health concerns. It should be emphasized that Israeli military operations have frequently resulted in significant damage to water pumps, sewage systems, and power lines. Electricity impedes wastewater treatment processes. Not to mention the release of large quantities of toxic and dangerous gases and chemicals that endanger the environment and public health, and thus it calls on the international community to take action to put an end to the occupation’s crimes against the Palestinian environmental system’s components.
Not to mention the discharge of large quantities of toxic and dangerous gases and chemicals that endanger the environment and public health, and thus calls on the international community to take action to put an end to the occupation’s crimes against the components of the Palestinian ecosystem, including lifting the blockade of Gaza and putting pressure on Israeli occupation authorities to accept responsibility. It is legitimate for an occupying country to improve power services and construct water and sanitary infrastructure for citizens of the occupied territory. The International Criminal Court also demands that the occupation’s environmental crimes in the occupied areas be included and thoroughly examined in the Palestinian track file, in a way that guarantees an end to the state of impunity and impunity. perpetrators of systematic and widespread violations, It also urges the Palestinian Authority to work to globalize this pattern of violations, including the adoption of an integrated strategy with clear policies and laws aimed at halting environmental degradation and confronting the facts imposed by the occupation in this regard, as well as internal abuses, to achieve a safe and human-friendly Palestinian environment as a guaranteed human right.
Finished.
The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (Hashd)
