Sunday 27 / July / 2025
Muscat: The Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for Environmental Affairs issued a statement on the sidelines of the thirty-fourth meeting held in Muscat.
The statement stated: “Given the barbaric aggression of the Israeli entity against the Palestinian people in occupied Palestine in general and the Gaza Strip in particular. which caused the deaths of thousands of martyrs, tens of thousands wounded, and hundreds of thousands of people displaced without shelter, especially women, children and the elderly, which caused the destruction of life in Gaza and the destruction of the superstructure, infrastructure, Hospitals, schools and places of worship were not excluded."
The Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for Environmental Affairs, condemn the brutal aggression against the brotherly Palestinian people and we prepare for what is happening.
The statement added: "There is a humanitarian and environmental crime that has destroyed everything, threatens the life of the Palestinians and destroys the environment with all its elements and components in an unprecedented and barbaric manner.”
The statement included,
Firstly: The Israeli occupation is waging this aggressive war relentlessly and with all its power and arrogance, using all types of weapons and bombs, including internationally prohibited weapons, which it throws at homes and residential towers to destroy them on the heads of their residents.
Second: The bombing destroys all environmental and agricultural activities and projects and leads to the degradation of lands, habitats, biodiversity, and vegetation in the terrestrial and marine environments.
Third: The bombing destroys health, social, cultural, educational and religious facilities, infrastructure and environmental facilities, and agricultural lands, without regard to the consequences and effects that result from that, whether on the health, environmental or humanitarian level.
Fourth: Massive destruction leads to the production of large quantities of destruction waste and rubble as a result of bombing and destruction, which includes dangerous pollutants due to bombs and weapons used and banned internationally, as indicated by some international organizations.
Fifth: The bombing leads to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian citizens inside the Gaza Strip due to the ongoing aggression against them and loss of their homes, livelihoods and necessary resources.
Sixth: The Israeli occupation is tightening the closure and siege on the Gaza Strip, so that nothing is allowed to enter the Strip except death, as it has cut off the supplies of electricity, water, food, health supplies and medicines to the Strip.
Seventh: The occupation stopped the supply of electricity and energy and stopped the supply of fuel, which disrupted all aspects of life and services as follows: This prevented the possibility of hospitals continuing to provide their services to citizens, especially in this difficult circumstance in which thousands of martyrs died and tens of thousands of citizens were injured.
In addition to the lack of medical supplies and medicines, and even the lack of space to place the martyrs until they are laid to rest. It also prevented the possibility of operating wastewater pumps and operating wastewater treatment plants, which prevented its proper disposal and treatment, as it flows untreated, causing water and soil pollution.
Also, the cessation of water desalination plants from working in parallel with cutting off the supply of water purchased by the occupation and the cessation of water pumps from working in underground wells - citizens lost all sources of water supply and were left with only 5% of the quantities of water that were available before the aggression, taking into account considering that 95% of the groundwater in the Gaza Strip is completely undrinkable.
The statement called on the international community, with all its institutions and bodies, especially the environmental and health ones, to take immediate action against what is happening in the Gaza Strip of genocidal war and forced transfer, and to carry out its responsibilities towards the Palestinian people and the Palestinian environment, especially in the Gaza Strip, in order to stop the aggression first and lift the siege.
Secondly, to restore the environmental, health and humanitarian effects and disasters resulting from this aggression, and to ensure the construction, maintenance and operation of health, environmental, humanitarian and infrastructure facilities in order to avoid the consequences that may result from what is happening in the Gaza Strip.
It also calls for an immediate investigation into the catastrophic consequences of this war on the environment and the use of various types of weapons, including those that are internationally prohibited.
