Israel’s onslaught since October 2023 has made the densely populated territory of Gaza – only 25 miles long and six miles wide – unlivable.

Despite the profound environmental impact and the implications for global climate stability, the destruction of Gaza’s environment, ecosystems and food production systems has not been answered with international action.

Independent experts have defined ecocide as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.”

From the start, Israel was honest about its goal: the destruction of Gaza.

Israel’s indiscriminate attacks and use of weapons with wide-area effects are aimed at causing as much damage as possible. This has led not only to significant civilian casualties but the annihilation of entire ecosystems.

Israel has destroyed or damaged all five of Gaza’s wastewater treatment facilities, “contaminating beaches and coastal waters, soils and potentially the groundwater,” according to a UN environmental assessment published in June. Untreated sewage released into the Mediterranean Sea pollutes the marine environment and coastal habitats. It also will likely cause harm to Gaza’s fishing industry – fish being a key source of food and fishing a traditional vocation in the territory, where rates of food insecurity and unemployment are catastrophically high.

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