The Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority warned on Monday that the Israeli ongoing assault on the Gaza Strip has triggered the worst ecological disaster in the territory’s history, leaving behind more than 60 million tons of rubble and at least 4 million tons of hazardous waste that will contaminate Gaza’s land and waters for decades.

In a statement, the Authority said the scale of destruction caused by the months-long bombardment has created a multilayered environmental catastrophe. The debris field includes approximately 50,000 tons of asbestos, along with nearly 100,000 tons of explosives and unexploded ordnance scattered across residential and industrial areas.

Officials reported that 80% of Gaza’s water and sewage networks have been completely destroyed, leading to widespread contamination of the coastal aquifer, the enclave’s primary source of drinking water. Thousands of factories and small-scale industrial facilities were also reduced to rubble, releasing chemicals, oils and industrial waste into the soil.

The authority added that the “chaos of genocide-driven displacement” has produced hundreds of unregulated dump sites, where more than 700,000 tons of solid waste has accumulated. Facilities responsible for treating medical and hazardous waste were entirely knocked out of service, heightening the risk of outbreaks and long-term toxic exposure among displaced populations.

According to the report, high-risk materials—including batteries, lubricants, solar panel debris, heavy metals, and asbestos—have seeped deep into soil layers and surface waters, pushing Gaza toward “critical environmental collapse.”

The coastline has also suffered severe contamination. Large sections of the Mediterranean coastal zone, extending 700 to 1,000 meters into the sea, are now covered with grey and black layers of sewage, explosive residue, heavy metals and industrial pollutants. Fishing grounds have shrunk dramatically, threatening one of Gaza’s last remaining sources of livelihood and food security.

The Authority confirmed that 3,700 dunams of coastal and marine ecosystems have been destroyed, while the Gaza Valley Nature Reserve has lost half of its ecological integrity. Agricultural lands across the Strip have been devastated: 95% of crops, 98% of orchards, and 89% of seasonal harvests have been wiped out or contaminated by toxic waste, sewage infiltration, and explosive remnants. Heavy military machinery has further degraded soil structure, rendering large swaths of farmland unusable.

The statement stressed that the environmental devastation has pushed Gaza into a long-term crisis that will require decades of rehabilitation. International environmental bodies—including UNEP and OCHA—have previously warned that the massive scale of rubble, toxic substances and infrastructure collapse poses grave risks to public health, water security and food production across the entire region.

The Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority concluded that the Zionist regime’s assault has created “a legacy of environmental destruction so vast that full recovery may be impossible within this generation.” (ILKHA)