Ecocide is one facet of Israel’s genocide in Gaza that often gets overlooked. For more than half a year, the IOF has been systematically razing fertile farmland with bulldozers, turning once-green areas into desolate patches of sand. The destruction of Gaza’s environment is a deliberate act of ecocide that has been going on for decades and has been severely exacerbated in the last 9 months of Israel’s genocidal war. Since the October 7th attack, Israel has dropped tens of thousands of bombs on Gaza.
Despite the prohibition of the use of chemical weapons, Israel has been among the top contenders in the race for illegal doings. Extremely detrimental weapons such as the deadly white phosphorus that turns everything it touches into ash are being used openly, burning down forests, olive trees, and farmlands, poisoning the soil, animals, and water. White Phosphorus in densely populated areas of Gaza is a war crime of the highest order. According to Human Rights Watch, Israel has also reportedly used white phosphorus in previous conflicts, including in 2009. It does unimaginable damage to the civilians and is a violation of International Humanitarian Law.
The Climate Impact of the War
According to a British-American study, the greenhouse gas emissions generated in the first two months of the war have surpassed the annual carbon footprints of the 20 most climate-impacted nations in the world. It is said to be equal to the emissions by burning at least 150,000 tonnes of coal. The new research says that rebuilding the 100,000 destroyed buildings in Gaza will generate 30 metric tonnes of warming gases. This is nearly equal to New Zealand’s annual CO2 emissions and higher than the total emissions by 135 other countries, including Lebanon, Sri Lanka, and Uruguay.
The Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg advocated her support for Palestine. She said the climate issue is a human rights issue.
“We won’t stop speaking out about Gaza’s suffering—there is no climate justice without human rights,” Greta wrote in her op-ed.
Israel is eviscerating the natural ecosystems in Gaza. This could make the land uninhabitable not just for years but for generations. Up to 48% of tree cover and farmland have been torched. This is a war crime.
Destruction of Olive Trees
Olive trees are not just a means for resources but also a symbol of resistance for the Palestinians. According to reports, Israel has destroyed over 800,000 olive trees in Palestine since 1967. This is the systematic erasure of Palestinian identity. Unfortunately, trees are not the only prey to the colonialist carnage; the animals have also bore the brunt of their evil maneuvers. Israeli snipers have been seen targeting farm animals such as sheep and horses, thus destroying all the means of survival. Their atrocities know no bounds.
Olive groves suffered extensive damage as a result of sewage overflow caused by Israel’s electricity and water cuts in the Gaza Strip. Gaza’s agriculture potential was further destroyed by sparing toxins over the crops and releasing seawater into the land.
Greenwashing the Apartheid
Greenwashing, a term used for the deceptive promotion of eco-friendly initiatives by a government to distract from its environmentally harmful policies, has been a very common tool used in Israel’s deliberate ecocide in Palestine. The Israeli government claims to have planted over 250 million trees since 1948, but what kind of trees are these and where have these been planted?
Well, the apartheid state has been appropriating environmentalism by turning the ethnically cleansed historic villages of Palestine into forests. It has been promoting travel and tourism on the graves of the indigenous people. If this is not Green Colonialism, then what is?
One of those forests is the Birya Forest. An Israeli scholar, Ilan Pappe, writes in “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine” that Birya Forest is Israel’s biggest man-made forest and one of the most popular tourism spots, strategically planted over the ruins of six ethnically cleansed Palestinian villages of Dishon, Alma, Qaddita, Amqa, Ayn al-Zaytun, and Biriyya to hide their atrocities committed over the people of these villages.
The Birya Forest is strategically designed by Israel to extinguish the Palestinian memory, greenwash Israeli crimes, and prevent the Palestinians from returning and reclaiming their land. Green colonialism is a western tactic to turn their evil into good. Other than that, Israel has not only massacred hundreds of thousands of Palestinians but also uprooted millions of indigenous trees (such as olives), with devastating consequences for local species like Flora and Fauna. These species have been reportedly endangered due to continued demolition of their natural habitat.
But just like the settler colonialists, the trees planted are not indigenous to the land of Palestine but rather invasive species that are a threat not only to the livelihoods of people but also to the wildlife habitat. These plantations, such as the Aleppo pines and the Negev tree, are resulting in diminishing biodiversity and increasing the risk of forest fires.
Ecocide is an indispensable part of Israel’s genocide. Among the catastrophic consequences to be faced by the state of Palestine, climate stands atop. This is feared to cause generational health effects due to women being continuously exposed to chemicals. Cancer and other pulmonary diseases will be widespread, as seen in Iraq. The world needs to take immediate action for a ceasefire. Emissions due to military activities constitute a big part of the total. Submission of reports on the military-caused carbon emissions by each country needs to become mandatory.
The world is already witnessing the result of millions of tonnes of annual unaccounted gas emissions in the form of devastating floods and severe global warming. If Israel is not stopped soon, the damage might be irreparable.
The Author, Mehreen Khan is a social sciences researcher, human rights advocate, and climate activist.
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