The toxic waste of the Gaza war has reached Israel

Published On 30 Aug 202630 Aug 2026Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and representatives of the Board of Peace agreed to set up a working group on sanitation and public health affecting both Israel and Gaza. Its membership and detailed operating structure are yet to be made public.It appears it has finally dawned on the Israeli authorities that the consequences of the unrelenting ecocidal destruction of Gaza were eventually going to hit Israel. The toxic leftovers of war – untreated sewage and contaminated rubble – are now a problem for Israeli public health as well.Gaza shares the Mediterranean, coastal ecosystems and coastal aquifers with Israel. The destruction of its electric power and sanitation infrastructure forces over 100,000 cubic metres of raw, untreated sewage into the Mediterranean Sea or on land every day. Because in this part of the Mediterranean currents move primarily from south to north, this waste is carried straight up the coast into Israeli waters.The Ashkelon desalination plant in southern Israel has been forced to shut down multiple times due to high faecal bacteria contamination from Gaza’s wastewater. Raw sewage also triggers tox...