Tragedy Unfolding: Examining the Ecological and Human Cost of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict*

The cost of the Israeli war against Palestinians in Gaza can be counted in several ways: in human losses, in infrastructure losses and in damage to the entire ecosystem of the region.

Over 20 thousand Palestinians have been brutally murdered in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes, almost half of them children. More than one hundred journalists have been killed in a clear attempt to silence the press and prevent the world from knowing what’s happening on the ground. The infrastructure of most of the region is completely destroyed, with hospitals, power plants, schools out of service or blown to pieces. 20 out 0f 22 hospitals in northern Gaza have been damaged or destroyed in roughly two months of conflict.

Also, besides human losses, pet animals are also victims of the war. Not to mention the quality of the air millions of people are forced to breath (with debris, smoke, ashes, and the smell of bodies decomposing in the streets and under rubbles that can also carry diseases) and the pollution of the drinking water.

Even before the war, the water in the region was already polluted and virtually undrinkable due to pollution, as well as aquifers were drying out. Around 95% of Gaza’s population have no access to clean water.