Gaza Strip: Warnings About Destruction of Biodiversity

On Wednesday, the Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority warned that massive Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip threaten a large-scale catastrophe through damage to the territory's biodiversity.

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In a statement issued on the occasion of International Biodiversity Day, the organisation denounced that the aggression affected plant and animal life in the coastal enclave.

"The comprehensive destruction of the infrastructure led to the pollution of water, air and soil, turning the land into mountains of waste," it said.

He also warned about the damage caused in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The region is witnessing deliberate destruction of natural and environmental resources, demolition of land, burning of forests and agricultural fields, dumping of industrial waste and residues, and pollution of water, soil and air, he stressed.

In a report submitted last January, the body stated that the components of wildlife, both plant and animal on the land and in the sea of the Strip, are subject to extermination as a result of the use of all kinds of weapons.

It noted that the war campaign resulted in the destruction and killing of wildlife habitats, as well as the burning of all forms of plant life, including trees, shrubs and grasses, some of which are endemic.

As an example, he cited the Wadi Gaza Reserve, which "became, due to internationally banned weapons, a mass grave for all forms of life, including humans, plants and animals".