Since the outbreak of the 2023 Israel-Hamas war and the near-total paralysis of sanitation and waste removal systems in Gaza, hundreds of massive garbage piles have accumulated across the Strip. UNRWA, the United Nations agency responsible for providing welfare services to Palestinian refugees, estimates that by early July, approximately 330,000 tons of solid waste in Gaza had neither been buried nor treated. This amount of garbage could fill more than 150 soccer fields.

A recent report by PAX, the largest peace organization in the Netherlands, analyzed satellite images and other open-source data and discovered that there are at least 225 massive piles of garbage in the Gaza Strip. According to the report, 2,000 tons of waste are added to these piles every single day – and only a fraction of them are buried or treated in the proper manner. The report also addresses the dire health and environmental ramifications for residents of the failure to treat the waste. From conversations with experts and from other reports, it is evident that the health risks will not be contained by the borders of Gaza and pose a threat not only to IDF soldiers serving in the Strip but also to residents of Israel.

According to the report, there are at least 225 massive piles of garbage in the Gaza Strip. 2,000 tons of waste are added to these piles every single day – and only a fraction of them are buried or treated in the proper manner.

The dire sanitary situation in Gaza is evident in almost every satellite image of the coastal enclave and testimony from Israeli soldiers who served there amplifies the obvious. According to soldiers, for example, troops serving in Gaza defecate in plastic bags, which they then throw out of the windows of the buildings in which they are deployed, along with any other garbage that builds up during their time there.

Israel is well aware of the situation in Gaza and the risks that it poses to Israeli forces – as well as of the possibility that disease will spread to its territory. It was reportedly recently, for example, that the IDF has started to vaccinate soldiers deployed to Gaza against polio, which was detected in the sewage water there. In addition, the Israeli military announced that it is working with various organizations to provide polio vaccines to Palestinian residents of Gaza. According to the army, since the start of the war 10 months ago, some 300,000 polio vaccines have been sent to Gaza, in cooperation with various international aid agencies. These vaccines are supposed to cover a population of more than 1 million people in Gaza.

Moreover, Israel is instigating extensive repair work on the sanitation systems in those camps from which Palestinians in Gaza have been evacuated. The initiative includes renovating the sewage pipes and purification plants that were damaged during the conflict. At the same time, Shomrim has discovered that Israel, along with foreign organizations, has also started to address the issue of garbage removal.

In correspondence with Shomrim, journalist Wim Zwijnenburg, who compiled the PAX report, explained that there were three organized landfill centers in Gaza before the outbreak of the war – none of which are currently operative. The report states that even before the war, the issue of garbage collection and landfill in Gaza was not handled in an optimal manner and that, in 2019, for example, almost a third of the waste collected was eventually disposed of in illegal dumps.

The war has greatly exacerbated the situation: according to Zwijnenburg, most of the waste currently accumulating in Gaza is household waste (plastic, food, sewage and so on) and waste from medical treatment. Add to this, he says, the devastation to buildings by IDF bombardments, which is an additional health hazard. The hazards posed by these destroyed buildings, which are not included in the PAX report, include debris, asbestos, explosives and decomposing bodies. These untreated piles of waste are a fertile breeding ground for disease, rats and mosquitoes – in an environment in which it is in any case impossible to provide adequate medical treatment.

Israel is well aware of the situation in Gaza and the risks that it poses to Israeli forces. It was reportedly recently, for example, that the IDF has started to vaccinate soldiers deployed to Gaza against polio, which was detected in the sewage water there.

The Growing Threat: The Spread of Infections

These piles of waste will have a long-term environmental impact. For example, metals and other contaminants slowly seep into the ground and cause damage that extends far beyond the border of Gaza.

Concerns of this kind were raised as far back as 2019, following previous rounds of conflict between Israel and Hamas that were far less intense and devastating than the current war. A report published at the time – written by Prof. Nadav Davidovitch, director of the Department of Health Systems Management at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s School of Public Health, along with colleagues Barak Hermesh and Maya Ma’ayan – found that the most significant risk to Israel was pollution of sea water, rivers, beaches and drinking water reservoirs in Israel due to defects in the treatment of sewage in Gaza.

Among their findings, the authors noted that “fecal pathogens found in currents flowing northward from Gaza towards Israel might affect the quality of the water even as far as Ashdod.” Moreover, they warned against the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria which could infect the population.

In a conversation with Shomrim, Davidovitch says that, after 10 months of fighting, the health and sanitary situation in Gaza is dire, with dramatic and widespread ramification – including the risk of exposure to disease, infections and other environmental hazards. “As we are now witnessing with the polio outbreak, there is no way for these effects to remain isolated. In the end, we all live in the same area. Apart from the severe damage to the health of the population in Gaza, especially children and other sensitive groups, including the Israeli hostages, there will be seepage. Apart from the humanitarian and moral considerations, addressing the problem also has a strategic element that must be taken into account,” he added.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) issued the following response: “The State of Israel is working to provide a solution to enable the operation of the landfills and other systems in the Gaza Strip, to ensure that residents of the Gaza Strip have their humanitarian needs met. In this framework, Israel allows fuel to enter Gaza for the operation of hospitals, shelters, wells and even routine maintenance of garbage concentrations. As part of this response, dedicated teams have been established in recent weeks to deal with various humanitarian areas, including a sanitation team that maintains continuous contact with UN officials and the international community. In this framework, it was decided to focus on waste removal by local teams and aid organizations. We recently approved 10 locations across the Gaza Strip to keep waste concentrations away from the population. The team is evaluating further actions.”