Carbon footprint from Israel's war on Gaza exceeds 100 countries
A study published by the Social Science Research Network, first reported by The Guardian on Friday, found that the climate cost of Israel's destruction of the Palestinian enclave, clearing debris and rebuilding the territory could exceed 31m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
That is more than the annual 2023 emissions of many countries, including Costa Rica, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.
The study found that Hamas' rockets and bunker fuel made up for 0.2 percent of those emissions, while the supply and use of weapons, tanks and other ordnance by Israel made up 50 percent.
It found that the overall impact of Israel's wars on Gaza and Lebanon, as well as its recent military confrontations with Yemen and Iran, was equivalent to running 84 gas power plants for a year.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
It is the third such study looking into the climate cost of Israel's bombardment of Gaza.
'This report is a staggering and sobering reminder of the ecological and environmental cost of Israel's genocidal campaign on the planet and its besieged people,' Zena Agha, policy analyst for Palestinian policy network Al-Shabaka, told The Guardian.
'But this is also the US, UK and EU's war, all of which have provided seemingly limitless military resources to enable Israel to devastate the most densely populated place on the planet.'
The research found that 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions since the war began came from the US sending 50,000 tonnes of weapons and supplies to Israel.
A further 20 percent was attributed to Israeli aircraft reconnaissance and bombing campaigns, as well as fuel from tanks and other military vehicles.
Around 7 percent of emissions from the conflict were from diesel-guzzling generators in Gaza, which Palestinians rely on due to Israel's blockade and the destruction of solar panels and the enclave's only power plant.
Before the war, solar energy made up a quarter of Gaza's electricity - one of the highest densities of rooftop solar panels in the world. Israeli forces have destroyed large swathes of that solar infrastructure.
The most significant cost to the climate will come from the reconstruction of Gaza, the study finds.
Rebuilding 436,000 apartments, along with hundreds of schools, mosques, clinics and other buildings - in addition to 5km of roads - will produce 29.4m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Underestimate
The research used open-source data, media reports, and data from aid groups and UN agencies.
The actual climate cost of Israel's war is likely to be much higher than the estimates, due to Israel's media blockade masking the full extent of environmental damage to the enclave.
'This conflict in Gaza shows that the numbers are substantial, greater than the entire greenhouse gas emissions of many entire countries, and must be included for accurate climate change and mitigation targets,' said Frederick Otu-Larbi, co-author of the report and lecturer at the University of Energy and Natural Resources in Ghana.
Israel's war on Gaza caused major environmental damage, UN says Read More »
Currently, there is no obligation for states to report military emissions to the UN's climate body.
The UN last year said that Israel's war had created a devastating environmental crisis in Gaza, destroying sanitation systems, leaving tonnes of debris from explosive devices and causing major pollution.
It found that water, sanitation and hygiene systems in Gaza were almost entirely defunct, with the strip's five wastewater treatment plants shut down.
Israel's war is exacerbating an already deteriorating environment in Gaza, where over 92 percent of the water was deemed unfit for human consumption in 2020.
Climate change and Israel's attacks on environmental infrastructure have long plagued Gaza and other parts of occupied Palestine.
After the Nakba - the ethnic cleansing and destruction of Palestinian communities in 1948 by Zionist forces - the Jewish National Fund (JNF) planted monoculture forests of pine trees, often on the ruins of Palestinian villages.
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel revealed in 2013 that the JNF's projects had a devastating impact on local biodiversity.
In 2021, Fadel al-Jadba, director of the horticulture department at the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture, told Middle East Eye that there had been a noticeable decline in agricultural production over the past decade.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
21 minutes ago
- The National
Hamas demands mediators guarantee positive result for Gaza ceasefire talks to continue
Hamas wants to continue with ceasefire negotiations only if mediators can guarantee a positive outcome, a senior official said on Monday. Mahmoud Taha, a Hamas official in Beirut, was speaking after sources told The National remote discussions had intensified in recent days between Egyptian and Qatari mediators on one side, and US and Israeli officials on the other. 'We have no objection to continuing negotiations if there are guarantees from the mediators and the international community to ensure results,' Mr Taha said. 'The core issue is the cessation of aggression, which [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu refuses to address in the negotiations." Hamas has already agreed unconditionally to a 60-day truce and signalled it was open to suggestions to lay down its arms and for its leaders to leave Gaza and live in exile with their families. However, a Hamas request for "small amendments" to the deal provoked an angry response from the US and Israel. The group has since informed mediators it had dropped its request, a source said. Mr Netanyahu said Israel and the US were "considering alternative options" to bring home the remaining 49 hostages and end Hamas's rule in Gaza. The two allies withdrew their negotiators from Qatar on Friday, where the latest round of Gaza talks started on July 6. US President Donald Trump suggested Mr Netanyahu should intensify military action against Hamas to eliminate the group. 'Hamas didn't really want to make a deal, I think they want to die,' Mr Trump said. It is time to 'finish the job' and 'get rid' of Hamas, he added. Mr Taha said: 'Trump's remarks about changing his strategy in Gaza and threatening Hamas are irresponsible and do not intimidate the movement. If Israel truly had more cards to play, they wouldn't be negotiating with Hamas.' He said 'all of these statements are aimed at pressuring Hamas into making concessions in the talks," calling on the US to "recalibrate" its policy. The back-and-forth between Mr Trump and Hamas marks a shift from earlier this month, when Hamas said Gaza ceasefire talks with Israel were progressing due to Mr Trump's involvement in the process. Change in strategy Israel's announcement of a daily pause in military operations in three parts of Gaza and the opening of new aid corridors was, sources said, effectively the implementation of the humanitarian segment of the latest proposals to pause the Gaza war. The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led fighters stormed southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 250 hostages back to Gaza. Israel's military response has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians and wounded more than twice that number, Gaza health officials say. It has also reduced much of the enclave to ruins and displaced nearly all of the 2.3 million population. Mr Trump said Israel would have to make a decision on its next steps in Gaza. He underscored the importance of securing the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, saying the group had suddenly 'hardened' its stance on the issue. 'They don't want to give them back and so Israel is going to have to make a decision,' he said at the start of a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his golf property in Turnberry, south-west Scotland. "I know what I'd do but I don't think it's appropriate that I say it. But Israel is going to have to make a decision," he said, while also claiming – without evidence – that Hamas was stealing food coming into Gaza and selling it. Israel has also accused Hamas of looting aid but a US government analysis found no evidence of systematic theft. US Senator Lindsey Graham has said Israel is preparing to intensify its military campaign in Gaza, comparing the strategy to allied operations on Tokyo and Berlin at the end of the Second World War. 'What we're talking about today is a change in strategy. I think President Trump has come to believe, and I've certainly come to believe, there's no way you're going to negotiate an end to this war with Hamas,' Mr Graham told NBC. 'Hamas is a terrorist organisation that is chartered to destroy the State of Israel. They're religious Nazis. They hold Israeli hostages.' Mr Graham, from South Carolina, said Israel has concluded that dismantling Hamas is the only way to ensure its security.
Al Etihad
an hour ago
- Al Etihad
38 Emirati humanitarian aid trucks enter Gaza as part of Operation Chivalrous Knight 3
28 July 2025 15:52 AL ARISH (WAM)A convoy of Emirati humanitarian aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip Monday through the Rafah border crossing, as part of the UAE's ongoing efforts to support and provide relief to the Palestinian people under the 'Operation Chivalrous Knight 3' humanitarian convoy consisted of 38 trucks, including 18 loaded with food supplies, medical aid, and infant were also 20 trucks carrying pipes, tanks, and equipment to support the operation of a new water pipeline. The pipeline will stretch approximately 7 kilometres, connecting the UAE-established desalination plant in Egypt to the displacement zones between the Palestinian cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, with a production capacity of 2 million gallons per earlier convoy of 25 trucks had entered yesterday, carrying water pipes and essential equipment for the pipeline. This brings the total number of trucks transporting materials for the water infrastructure project to 45, with all necessary components now delivered and preparations underway for the project's UAE resumed its "Birds of Goodness" airdrop missions yesterday, alongside the continued land-based aid deliveries via the Rafah border crossing. These efforts reflect the UAE's steadfast commitment to alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Aid or illusion? Starving Gazans decry 'looted' relief shipments
The Israeli government has publicised the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, including dozens of lorries, after starving the population for months. However, despite claims of a humanitarian truce and increased aid flow, voices in Gaza paint a picture of chaos, deception and deepening hunger. Khalil Sardah, a 28-year-old displaced resident from Khan Younis in the south, said he and thousands of others gathered after hearing lorries would be arriving, but were surprised by others looting them. 'By noon, tens of thousands were there. We waited until night. The trucks came, but there was no security,' he told The National. 'I personally saw around 30 trucks looted in front of my eyes.' He described the scenes as desperate and chaotic. With no official distribution system, 'the strongest and most aggressive' groups managed to take control of the aid. Mr Sardah said he received no aid himself. His brother managed to bring back a few items, but most supplies, he said, were stolen or hoarded by armed groups. On Monday, Israel claimed that more than 120 lorryloads of food aid were distributed by the UN and aid agencies in Gaza on the first day of a partial pause in fighting. UN agencies did not confirm the amount of aid. According to World Food Programme (WFP) calculations, Gaza needs around 500 to 600 aid lorries a day − or 1,000 to 1,500 daily at peak need − to prevent famine. The WFP said a third of the population of Gaza had not eaten for days, and 470,000 were 'enduring famine-like conditions'. Gaza's hospitals have reported 14 new deaths from starvation and malnutrition in the enclave in the past 24 hours, local health authorities announced. This takes the death toll from starvation and malnutrition to 147, including 88 children, according to the same source. Unsecured areas Mahmoud Al-Sharif, a community activist in Gaza, criticised what he called a 'performance' orchestrated for international media. While Israel declared a temporary humanitarian pause, he noted that the violence on the ground never stopped. 'The Israeli army allowed the trucks in through dangerous routes, knowing they'd be looted. Their aircraft even targeted youth trying to secure the aid,' he added. The National was unable to verify this claim with independent sources. Rami Abdu, director of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, said the recent events were part of a calculated propaganda effort. 'Israel launched a massive media campaign, showing aid trucks entering through Kerem Shalom, to suggest the crisis is easing. But this is deception,' Mr Abdu said. 'Only a small number of trucks entered, and they were left in unsecured areas, deliberately enabling their looting.' According to the Government Media Office in Gaza, 73 aid lorries entered the territory on Sunday. The World Health Organisation warned on Sunday that malnutrition was reaching 'alarming levels' in Gaza. It said that of the 74 recorded malnutrition-related deaths in 2025, 63 had occurred in July − including 24 children aged under five, one child older than five and 38 adults. Despite that, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied that starvation is happening in the Palestinian territory, which has been under Israeli bombardment for more than 21 months. 'There is no policy of starvation in Gaza and there is no starvation in Gaza,' he claimed in a speech.
