Israeli forces, settlers commit 760 environmental violations in West Bank
The authority said the violations damaged farmland, water networks and trees, with about 100,000 olive trees uprooted by the end of September.
Israeli forces and settlers committed 760 environmental violations in the occupied West Bank between January and September, the Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority said on Friday.
The authority made the statement to mark the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict, which is observed annually on Nov. 6.
It documented 203 attacks on agricultural land and nature reserves, including the bulldozing of olive groves, the building of settler roads and the burning of greenhouses.
The authority also recorded 178 attacks on forests and vegetation, which it said uprooted thousands of fruit-bearing and perennial trees, including about 100,000 olive trees by the end of September.
It estimated the losses from those attacks at $67 million.
In a separate category, the authority reported 185 violations involving construction waste and rubble from demolitions, particularly in the Jenin and Tulkarm governorates and their refugee camps.
It said 52 attacks targeted food security and livestock, including the theft of hundreds of animals, while 37 attacks hit water sources and wells.
The authority added that 35 attacks damaged water pipelines and irrigation networks, including a main pipeline in the Birin area that it said left about 450 Palestinians without water.
In the Gaza Strip, the authority said the territory faces a widespread environmental and humanitarian catastrophe caused by Israel's military offensive.
It estimated that 61 million to 68 million tons of rubble have accumulated across Gaza, including about four million tons of hazardous waste and at least 50,000 tons of asbestos.
The authority said the offensive had destroyed or bulldozed 82 percent of agricultural land and 97 percent of fruit-bearing and olive trees.
It also said that about 120,000 cubic meters of untreated wastewater is discharged daily into streets and water bodies, contributing to rising disease rates.
The authority said the documented violations constitute environmental war crimes and breach Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as well as provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
It called on the international community to meet its legal and moral responsibilities toward the Palestinian people and to work toward ending the Israeli occupation.
Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war, and the territory's status remains a central issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.