As Gaza’s homes lie in ruins and its families are left without shelter, the very land and water that once sustained life have become instruments of death under the Israeli regime’s assault.
Israel’s war on Gaza has not only annihilated entire neighborhoods, displaced families again and again, and obliterated hospitals, but has also poisoned the soil and water upon which Palestinians depend to survive.
Four weeks into a fragile ceasefire — violated daily by the Israeli regime — the extent of the environmental destruction is becoming starkly visible.
In Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, once a bustling community, there is now nothing but devastation.
An essential water source — a rainwater pond — now festers with sewage, debris, and the stench of war.
For hundreds of displaced families, it has become both refuge and threat.
Umm Hisham, a pregnant woman forced from her home, wades through the foul water with her children.
“We took refuge here, around the Sheikh Radwan pond, with all the sufferings you could imagine, from mosquitoes to sewage with rising levels, let alone the destruction all around. All this poses a danger to our lives and the lives of our children,” she told Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim Alkhalili.
Once designed to collect rainwater and drain it to the sea, the pond now holds raw sewage after Israeli airstrikes destroyed the pumps.
With electricity and sanitation systems shattered, the contaminated water keeps rising, threatening to swallow nearby shelters.
“There is no doubt there are grave impacts on all citizens: Foul odours, insects, mosquitoes. Also, foul water levels have exceeded 6 metres (20ft) high without any protection; the fence is completely destroyed, with high possibility for any child, woman, old man, or even a car to fall into this pond,” said Maher Salem, a Gaza City municipal officer.
Local authorities warn that stagnant, polluted water could trigger deadly disease outbreaks, especially among children — yet for most Gazans, there are no alternatives.
“Families know that the water they get from the wells and from the containers or from the water trucks is polluted and contaminated … but they don’t have any other choice,” reported Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud from Gaza City.
At the COP30 Climate Summit in Brazil, Palestinian Ambassador Ibrahim al-Zeben condemned the situation as an environmental catastrophe born from genocide.
“There’s no secret that Gaza is suffering because of the genocide that Israel continues to wage — a war that has created nearly a quarter of a million victims and produced more than 61 million tonnes of rubble, some of which is contaminated with hazardous materials,” he said.
He added that the deliberate destruction of sewage and water systems has contaminated Gaza’s groundwater and coastal waters.
“Gaza now faces severe risks to public health, and environmental risks are increasing,” al-Zeben warned.
The ambassador further condemned the Israeli regime for weaponizing food and water: “Israel’s attacks have destroyed much of the enclave’s agricultural land, leaving it in a state of severe food insecurity and famine.”
A UN Environment Programme report in September confirmed that Gaza’s freshwater supplies are now “severely limited and much of what remains is polluted.”
It found that “the collapse of sewage treatment infrastructure, the destruction of piped systems, and the use of cesspits for sanitation have likely increased contamination of the aquifer that supplies much of Gaza’s water.”
Back in Sheikh Radwan, the stench of decay mingles with the cries of the displaced.
“When every day is a fight to find water, food, and bread,” Mahmoud said, “safety becomes secondary.”
Gaza’s land, water, and air — once symbols of resilience — are now the poisoned remnants of the Israeli regime’s ongoing war of extermination.