At a time when the world's nations are concerned about the environment and its problems, while allocating huge budgets and convening world conferences to study ways to preserve the environment and achieve sustainable development to preserve human life on this planet - the Palestinian environment that is part of the environment The world is witness to all-out Israeli aggressions: land, air, water, and population are being subjected to the worst attack in history.
The green plains became barren after they were bulldozed and Israeli settlements, bypass roads and security areas were erected. Barbed wire fences were erected on the beautiful al-Rawabi. Military observation towers were erected to protect the settlements, the extended mountain roads, the military barriers, the cement blocks, Solid waste and waste water have accumulated to spread insects, epidemics, unpleasant odors, even wild animals abandoned their caves and holes, under pressure of dredging, noise, air filled with dust, toxic gases, dangerous radiation,and water Which is subject to a massive depletion process not only, but also to pollution in its little remaining part.
Some forms of Israeli attacks on the Palestinian environment:
First: Confiscation of land
The Israeli occupation forces took control of 345,206 dunums of Palestinian land, equivalent to about 61% of the West Bank in the West Bank from 1967 to September 2000, to use it to establish Israeli colonies, and to set up bypass roads to serve them, Security or military zones or closed protected areas for future settlement expansion, thus preventing legitimate land owners from taking advantage of their lands and exploiting them, which negatively affected their overall economic and social life.
The construction of these settlement projects has negatively affected the Palestinian environment. The bulldozing of large areas of green areas and agricultural areas was uprooted. As of the end of April 2005, a number of trees had been uprooted to 1355290 trees. The land was diverted to barren land, also the wildlife system in the Palestinian territories. Many species of wild animals and birds were forced to migrate from the places that were razed. The bypass roads and the fences of the colonies also created a kind of environmental isolation that greatly affects For the biodiversity in the Palestinian territories.
Second: stealing Palestinian water
The first military order issued by the Israeli occupation forces before the begin of the war on June 7, 1967, relates to the subjection of all water resources in the Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the control of the Israeli military ruler; Israel began its policy of controlling water resources, and carried out many arbitrary measures against Palestinian citizens, including:
Prevented Palestinians from using their water in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Preventing the drilling of agricultural wells in the Palestinian territories.
Many wells were dug inside Israeli settlements located in the Palestinian territories.
A series of wells were dug along the armistice line with the Gaza Strip; to drain fresh water and to reduce the water flowing into the coastal aquifer in the Gaza Strip.
The restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation forces on the exploitation of Palestinian water by Palestinians have significantly hindered the development of the Palestinian water sector. There are 183 population centers in the West Bank that are not covered by the public water network, In addition, the massive Israeli depletion of Palestinian water has led to the exposure of Palestinian water to many dangers, the most important of which is water depletion and pollution with chlorides and nitrates.
Other sources of pollution
Environmental pollution in the Palestinian territories is not limited to waste water or solid waste, but air pollution is caused by dust resulting from a number of Israeli quarries in some areas and which spread throughout the West Bank. In addition to air pollution due to the emission of toxic and harmful gases from Israeli factories that were established near the armistice line with the West Bank, The constant noise caused by the sounds of Israeli warplanes, as well as the firing of artillery shells and tank shells in the eastern Gaza Strip - is a problem that permeates much of the country and includes all aspects of life there.