Gaza faces significant ecocide crisis in recent history

Since October 7, 2023, thousands of civilians have died in Gaza as Israel's ongoing attacks have resulted in widespread destruction, amounting to ecocide, News.Az reports citing foreign media.

Since 7 October, 2023, thousands of civilians have lost their lives in Gaza, where Israel has continued its attacks, turning the destruction caused by these assaults into ecocide.

In Israel’s attacks in Gaza, nearly 42,000 Palestinians were killed in one year, and nearly 100,000 were injured.

In addition to this humanitarian crisis, the attacks have caused ecocide by damaging agricultural lands, water resources, ecosystems and biodiversity.

The term ecocide, used as an abbreviation for ecological destruction, is defined by the European Law Institute as “the destruction and devastation of the environment at any cost”.

The concept of ecocide was introduced by Biology professor, Arthur W. Galston, during the Vietnam War in the 1970s and was frequently used in protests against the US military’s use of herbicides and Agent Orange to destroy the country’s vegetation and crops.

Ecocide is recognised as a crime under the category of war crimes in the Rome Statute, the establishing treaty of the International Criminal Court, which defines attacks that cause wide, long-term and serious damage to the natural environment in the context of war or conflict as criminal acts.

News.Az