Mazin Qumsiyeh*
9 April 2026
The environmental devastation unfolding in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 represents one of the most extensive and deliberate cases of ecocide in modern history.
This article examines the ecological dimensions of the ongoing assault on Gaza, situating them within a century-long trajectory of settler colonial environmental transformation in Palestine, and documents the destruction of ecosystems, agricultural land, water infrastructure, and biodiversity. He also explores the legal and moral frameworks surrounding the concept of ecocide, comparing it to related crimes such as genocide and crimes against humanity. Finally, it highlights the resilience and resistance of Palestinian environmental actors and the global call for accountability and ecological restoration.
Defining ecocide and its relevance to Gaza
The term “ecocide” derives from the Greek oikos (home) and Latin caedere (to kill), literally meaning “the killing of one’s home.” It refers to acts that cause widespread, long-term, or severe damage to the environment, threatening the survival of ecosystems and the communities that depend on them[i]. Although ecocide is not yet codified as a core international crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, scholars and legal practitioners have increasingly argued for its recognition alongside genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes[ii].
In the Gaza Strip, the deliberate targeting of environmental systems – water, soil, air, flora, fauna, and ecological institutions – during the two-year assaults epitomizes ecocide. As clearly shown in a paper published by the US-based researcher Ahlam Abuawad and fellow academics[iii], the environmental destruction in Gaza is not collateral damage but an intentional strategy aimed at rendering the territory uninhabitable. The ecological collapse of Gaza must thus be understood as both a biophysical catastrophe and a political instrument of domination and the present destruction needs to be situated within the context of a longer history of environmental colonialism in Palestine.
Historical roots: environmental colonialism and the “Environmental Nakba”
Environmental damage in Palestine did not begin in 2023. It is rooted in the early Zionist settler-colonial project, which sought not only to dispossess the indigenous Palestinian people but also to transform the landscape to mirror a European ecological ideal. As early as the 1920s, the draining of the Hula wetlands in northern Palestine was celebrated as a “civilizing” mission, yet it resulted in the destruction of 219 species with only the endemic Hula painted frog (Latonia nigriventer) managing to come back later. This represents the collapse of a unique wetland ecosystem that was also important for bird migration[iv].
Subsequent projects, including the diversion of the Jordan River, massive deforestation, and replacement of native trees with monocultural European pine forests, further altered the ecological balance. Before 1948, the Jordan River discharged roughly 1,350 million cubic meters (mcm) of water annually into the Dead Sea; by the 2000s, this was reduced to less than 20 mcm per year[v]. Similarly, millions of wild trees as well as domestic trees (olive, carob, and almond trees) were uprooted to make way for settlements and military zones and walls [vi]
This “environmental Nakba”, as described it in other places[vii], is a central pillar of the settler-colonial process. The ecological transformation of the land serves both symbolic and practical purposes: erasing indigenous presence, claiming control of natural resources, and creating an exclusionary landscape for the colonizer’s use.
Ecocide in the Gaza Strip: the contemporary phase
Since October 2023, Gaza has faced an unprecedented level of environmental devastation. Satellite-based studies[viii] show that more than 60% of Gaza’s agricultural lands have been destroyed or rendered unusable by bombing, bulldozing, and contamination. This destruction includes olive orchards, vegetable farms, and greenhouses that once sustained local food security. It has been reported that over 70% of the habitats for threatened and endemic species have been obliterated, placing Gaza’s biodiversity on the brink of extinction[ix]. Species such as the Palestine sunbird (Cinnyris osea), the European bee-eater (Merops apiaster), and the desert hedgehog (Paraechinus aethiopicus) face acute habitat loss due to deforestation, soil contamination, and infrastructure collapse.
Moreover, the bombing campaigns have released immense quantities of greenhouse gases. According to The Guardian[x] emissions from the first 90 days of the bombardment alone exceeded the annual carbon footprint of 20 small nations combined. The environmental toll includes the combustion of military fuel, destruction of cement and asphalt structures, and the release of heavy metals and asbestos dust — all contributing to regional and global climate change.
The collapse, contamination and scholasticide
The destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure has created an environmental health catastrophe[xi]. Israeli attacks targeted not only hospitals and water facilities but also desalination plants, sewage treatment stations, and waste management sites. As a result, untreated sewage now flows directly into the Mediterranean, contaminating water along the coasts of both Gaza and southern Israel[xii]. Fuel blockades further crippled waste collection and desalination systems, leading to widespread outbreaks of infectious diseases. The combination of environmental degradation and public health collapse exemplifies compound ecocide, in which environmental destruction multiplies social suffering[xiii]
The use of environmentally destructive weapons in Gaza has also been extensively documented. White phosphorus munitions, which ignite spontaneously on contact with oxygen, cause not only human suffering but also long-term soil and groundwater contamination[xiv]. Elevated levels of lead and cadmium isotopes detected in regional dust samples suggest possible exposure to neutron or radioactive reactions – a finding consistent with the hypothesis of unconventional munitions use. Such contamination renders vast areas unfit for agriculture and threatens food chains through bioaccumulation in crops and livestock. This process exemplifies the ecotoxicological dimension of warfare, where residues of conflict persist in the biosphere long after the bombs stop falling.
Beyond the physical damage caused, the war has targeted Gaza’s educational and research institutions, effectively destroying the capacity to study or remediate environmental harm. This systematic destruction of higher education, a phenomenon referred to as scholasticide, eliminates the local scientific capacity that is essential for recovery[xv] All universities in Gaza, including the Islamic University of Gaza and Al-Azhar University, have been destroyed or severely damaged. Laboratories housing ecological collections, seed banks, and biodiversity databases have been obliterated. This annihilation of intellectual infrastructure constitutes a knowledge-based ecocide, erasing generations of environmental science and stewardship.
Legal and moral frameworks: Is Ecocide a Crime?
The recognition of ecocide as a crime under international law is gaining momentum. Draft amendments proposed to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2021 define 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”[xvi]. The amendments proposed call for the Rome Statute to be amended to include Ecocide as a crime alongside the existing four crimes of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes and the Crime of Aggression. Applying this framework to Gaza, multiple acts — from the targeting of water systems to contaminating soil with toxic agents — meet these criteria. The deliberate and systematic nature of such acts strengthens the legal argument that ecocide is occurring.
In May 2025 the Permanent Mission of Palestine to the Netherlands formally declared Gaza’s ecological devastation an ecocide, noting that fewer than five per cent of agricultural lands remain cultivable.
In their paper, the group of scientists led by Ahlam Abuawad mentioned above called upon the scientific community to take a moral stand, “speak out against the unprecedented and preventable human-made environmental disaster in Gaza and to everything in their power to ensure that the genocide and ecocide unfolding in Gaza is stopped.” [xvii]
Ecocide, colonialism, and resistance
Ecocide in Gaza is inseparable from the broader colonial matrix of power in Palestine. It is both a consequence and a tool of domination. By destroying ecological systems, the occupying power removes the basis of life and sovereignty, enforcing dependence and displacement. Yet, Palestinians have continually resisted — through environmental activism, agroecology, seed saving, and community restoration. The Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability (PIBS) in Bethlehem[xviii], for instance, leads initiatives to conserve native species, document environmental damage, and promote ecological justice. Such acts of eco-resistance or ‘eco-sumud’ (‘ecological steadfastness’) demonstrate that despite destruction, life and agency persist.
But, The environmental destruction in Gaza has transboundary consequences. Contaminants from bombed industrial sites and sewage outflows pollute the Mediterranean, threatening regional fisheries and coastal biodiversity[xix]. Atmospheric pollution from continuous bombardment contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and particulate matter affecting air quality across the Levant.
Moreover, Gaza’s ecocide exemplifies the intersection of climate injustice and imperial violence.[xx] Palestine’s deep vulnerability to climate change intersects tragically with the ongoing destruction. Heat is rising and drought on the increase, while rainfall is decreasing, falling to less than 40 per cent of the annual average for the past 40 years last winter. Against that background, at COP29 in 2024, Palestinian voices called out the hypocrisy of global climate discussions that ignore the ecocide unfolding in Gaza, demanding collective climate justice and divestment from energy systems fueling occupation.
The same global systems that drive fossil fuel extraction, militarization, and environmental exploitation are reproduced in Gaza’s destruction. Recognizing ecocide as a systemic phenomenon — not a local anomaly — is essential to global environmental justice.
Toward Restoration and Accountability
Addressing ecocide in Gaza requires both immediate humanitarian action and long-term ecological restoration. Priorities include environmental monitoring and data collection, using satellite imagery and local community science; debris management, as the rubble generated exceeds 37 million tons[xxi] and is extremely hazardous, containing the residues of bombs, depleted uranium, white phosphorous, asbestos and other highly dangerous materials ; rehabilitation of water and sewage systems, prioritizing decentralized renewable-powered solutions; reforestation and habitat restoration, using native species, and finally; legal accountability, through international advocacy for ecocide recognition and reparations.
The devastation of Gaza is not merely a humanitarian crisis — it is an ecological one with global ramifications. The destruction of land, water, air, and biodiversity reveals an intent not only to subdue a people but to annihilate the ecological foundations of their survival. Understanding and naming this as ecocide is essential for global justice and for restoring life in Palestine. True sustainability cannot exist under occupation. Restoration of Gaza’s environment thus requires restoration of sovereignty, justice, and peace — where both people and nature can heal.
| “Palestinians must determine their destiny”– Julie Smit
Phase I of the ceasefire plan signed by Israel and Hamas in October 2025, during which over 600 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks, ended in mid-January 2026. Phase II of the process provides for the establishment of a ‘Board of Peace’ headed by President Donald Trump and a transitional technocratic National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) with responsibility for the day-to-day running of civilian affairs in Gaza, including agriculture. The NCAG, the only body in which Palestinians are represented, has no political power and will operate under the supervision of the Board of Peace. With some 96 % of Gaza’s farmland destroyed or inaccessible, productive soil contaminated after years of intensive bombing, wells and greenhouses in ruins and fishing boats destroyed, the urgent need to restart farming presents an unprecedented challenge. Furthermore, the ‘Yellow Line’, to which the Israeli army withdrew in October in Phase I of the ‘Peace Plan’, places over half of the total area of Gaza, including some 50 % of Gaza’s most fertile farmlands, under direct Israeli control, separating farmers there from their land. Since the ‘Peace Plan’ excludes Palestinians from any say in determining the future of their country, farmers and their organisations are deeply concerned as to the future of agriculture in Gaza at this crucial moment. Will small-scale family farming, which enabled Gaza to be largely self-sufficient in fruit and vegetables in the past, be possible again, or will the industrial agriculture and aid and import dependence promoted by Israel to the detriment of Palestinian food sovereignty win the day? The “Trump Economic Development Plan” that sees the reconstruction of Gaza as a vast investment opportunity with a focus on luxury tourism, data centres and intensive agriculture unconnected to local populations would suggest the latter. In a recent communiqué[1], ASTM’s partner organisation, the Palestinian Farmers’ Union (PFU) called on the NCAG to ensure that “the protection of farmers’ rights and agricultural land be placed at the core of all reconstruction policies and plans with local farmers’ associations meaningfully involved. Palestinians must be in charge of determining their destiny”. PFU insists on the need for rapid agricultural rehabilitation and for farmers to be guaranteed safe and immediate access to their land, provided with the necessary agricultural inputs and ensured security of tenure to enable them to return to their traditional role as food producers contributing to food security and resilience for the people of Gaza and reducing reliance on humanitarian aid. “Agriculture must not be treated as a secondary or delayed sector,” PFU emphasized. “It is a fundamental entry point for restoring life, dignity, and resilience in Gaza. Rebuilding Gaza begins with the land. [1] Palestinian Farmer’s Union, “Rebuilding Gaza starts from the Land”, Press release, Gaza, 29 January 2026. |
| *Mazin Qumsiyeh is a Palestinian scientist, author and human rights activist. He is the founder and director of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University (https://www.palestinenature.org/), which is dedicated to environmental research and education and the conservation of the natural world, culture and heritage in Palestine. |
References
[i] Higgins, P, Eradicating ecocide: Laws and governance to stop the destruction of the planet, London, Shepheard-Walwyn, 2010.
[ii] Higgins et al., 2020.
[iii] Abuawad, A., Griffiths, M., Edwards, G., Eftekhari, A., El-Ebweini, M., Al-Najar, H., Butmeh, A., Abu Dayyeh, R., Al-Shewy, M., & Aker, A. (2024). From ecocide to genocide: A call to action for scientists globally to address the destruction in Gaza. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5021472
[iv] Qumsiyeh, Mazin., Impact of the Israeli military activities on the environment, International Journal of Environmental Studies, 81(2), 2024, p.977–992. Consultable sur https://doi.org/10.1080/00207233.2024.2323365
[v] Qumsiyeh, 2022
[vi]Husein, D., and M.B. Qumsiyeh, 2022. Impact of Israeli segregation and annexation wall on Palestinian biodiversity. Africana Studia 1: 19–26. https://doi.org/10.21747/0874-2375/afr37a2.
[vii] Qumsiyeh, Mazin, Developing Institutions that Serve National Goals: Case Study of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability, Al-Quds Journal for Natural Sciences, 1(3), 5, 2023. https://aquja.alquds.edu/index.php/science/article/view/197
[viii] Yin et al., Evaluating war-induced damage to agricultural land in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 using PlanetScope and SkySat imagery, Science of Remote Sensing, 11, 2025. Accessible through: https://www.palestinenature.org/research/1-s2.0-S2666017225000057-main.pdf#:~:text=Forced%20displacement%2C%20the%20risk%20of%20unexploded%20ordnance,without%20direct%20ground%20access%20presents%20significant%20challenges.
[ix] Ward M, et al., The estimated cost of preventing extinction and progressing recovery for Australia’s priority threatened species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122: e2414985122, 2025.
[x] Guardian. (2024, January 9). Emissions from Israel’s war in Gaza have ‘immense’ effect on climate catastrophe. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/09/emissions-gaza-israel-hamas-war-climate-change
[xi] Hamamra, B., Abuzant, M., and Fayez Mahamid, M. (2024) The Decimation of Gaza’s Health Care System—Hospitals Destroyed and Lives Endangered. SAGE Open Medicine. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/27551938251378096
[xii] Murray, N. (2024). Water apartheid: How Israel weaponises water in the Gaza Strip. Middle East Eye. https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/how-israel-weaponises-water-gaza-strip
[xiii] Qumsiyeh & Ali, 2024.
[xiv] Busby, C., Gallagher, R. L., Saouiby, Y. A., & Abboud, J. (2025). Anomalous lead and cadmium isotope ratios in dust samples near the Israeli bombing site in Beirut provide evidence of neutron exposures. Retrieved from https://drive.proton.me/urls/NPC3NS64MM
[xv] Qumsiyeh, M. B., & Ali, R. (2024). Scholasticide: The ongoing colonial attack on Palestinian higher education. Science for the People, 26(3), 20–22, 46–47.
[xvi] Higgins, P., Short, D., & South, N. (2020). Protecting the planet: A proposal for a law of ecocide. Crime, Law and Social Change, 73(1), 117–135. Consultable sur https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-019-09851-3
[xvii] Abuawad, Ahlam and Griffiths, Mark and Edwards, Graham and Eftekhari, Adan and Shehada, Mohammad and Al-Najar, Husam and Butmeh, Abeer and Abu Dayyeh, Rasha and Al-Shewy, Mohamed and Aker, Amira, From Ecocide to Genocide: A Call to Action for Scientists Globally to Address the Destruction in Gaza, SSRN, November 04, 2024. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5021472 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5021472
[xviii] Palestine Institute for Biodiversity & Sustainability of Bethlehem University, Website. Available under https://www.palestinenature.org/
[xix] Yin, H., Eklund, L., Habash, D., Qumsiyeh, M. B., & Van Den Hoek, J. (2025). Evaluating war-induced damage to agricultural land in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 using PlanetScope and SkySat imagery. Science of Remote Sensing, 11, Article 100199.
[xx] https://worldbeyondwar.org/climate-justice-imperialism-and-palestine-unpacking-global-systems-of-oppression/
[xxi] Anadolu Agency, What to do with debris in Gaza (interview with Mazin Qumsiyeh), X, 2024. https://x.com/anadoluagency/status/1905961839529201723
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