Smuggling Israeli hazardous Solid Waste into Palestinian Territories

Report by: Palestinian Quality Environment Authority, 12/3/ 2006

The Israeli occupation constitutes a major threat to the Palestinian environment. Israeli aggressions against Palestinian environment can be found in the following:
·    Demolition of houses and establishments.
·    Destruction of infrastructure including water networks, power plants and sewage pipes.
·    Razing arable lands and uprooting trees.
·    Exploiting natural resources, especially water ones.
·    Building and expanding settlements as well as constructing bypass roads.
·    Keeping up construction of Apartheid Wall in the West Bank.
·    Disposing sewage water of settlements into Palestinian lands.
·    Placing checkpoints and restricting citizens’ movement by directing them forcibly to unpaved bypass roads.
·    Burying solid dangerous waste into Palestinian lands.
·    Preventing the Palestinian National Authority from implementing infrastructure and sanitation-related programs.

The abovementioned Israeli aggressions on the Palestinian environment occur daily, causing a great deal of damage, which in turn blocks implementation of the Palestinian Authority’s environment rehabilitation-related programs.

Such attacks also constitute a flagrant violation of all relevant international conventions and agreements including the bilateral ones like the Oslo accords signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which stipulated necessary protection of Palestinian environment.

Accordingly, to stop the continued deterioration of Palestinian environment at the hands of the Israeli authorities, the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories should come to a halt.

The said need emerges from one important fact that the Israeli authorities are still smuggling Israeli solid waste and poisonous substances into the Palestinian territories, particularly into southern West Bank.

The Israelis are also designating special waste disposal locations on Palestinian lands such as the 2005 attempt to designate the Abu Shusha Brick-Breaker Factory, near the Deir Sharaf village, northwest of the West Bank city of Nablus.

In Tulkarem, the Israeli occupation authorities have recently spotted some pieces of lands in the city for disposing Israeli solid waste, from the proximity of the Green Line (Palestinian-Israeli border line). 

The Palestinian investigations disclosed that Israeli violations on May2005, mainly in the West Bank village of Shufa where an Israeli-based contractor buried solid waste there, as Palestinian concerned bodies like the rural council, the governor’s office and the police department, have been contacted to put an end to such a phenomenon, yet no concrete steps have yet been taken, while the problem has been aggravating rapidly.

On February 4, 2006, a local Tulkarem resident reported that an Israeli contractor attempt to transfer solid waste from Israel to be buried in the Kafriyat area of Tulkarem.  Therefore, a number of our Tulkarim’s staff rushed to the area, where there were two waste disposal locations as follows:

First Location:
A valley located between the Kufer Jamal village and the Jayous village, near the main street, which connects these two villages. The area, where the waste is being buried in is estimated at 4 dunums (1 acre), owned by local citizen Zuhair Abdelrahman Abulibda. That land is characterized by the following:
1. Surrounded by olive trees
2. Children happen to mess up with the waste being disposed, thus putting their lives into risk.
3. Pillars of smoke are being ascending from the waste after being set into fire, thus polluting the air.
4. The waste being poured, in hundreds of tons, into such area includes hazardous/ poisonous substances such as paint and vehicles’ batteries remnants.
Local owners of nearby lands have voiced deep concern over what is going on around them, indicating the waste disposal, mentioned above, the Tulkarem office confirmed.

Second Location:
The second waste disposal location for throwing waste is a hill in Flameya village and near to “kokhaf Ya’yeer” Jewish settlement; It is formed of 6 dunums- land that belong to Palestinian citizens Rashied Abu Thahher, Roshdi Abu Thahher and Radwan Saleh.
During the visit for this land we noticed that:
1- Its location near cultivated land that include green houses, olive, citrus and Guava trees.
2- A rift well is located directly under the hill.
3- Water reservoir located about only ten meters of the hill and was constructed by the agricultural relief for watering land.
4- The waste amounts have been estimated by tons and similar to that mentioned in the first location.

We have been informed that the Palestinian citizens burnt the waste in the second place on February1, 2006, causing foul-smelling that spread in the area and annoyed the locals.  

Here are some examples of Israeli violations regarding burying solid waste in Palestinian lands in the West Bank:-
1. In September 2005, Israeli contractors brought solid waste from Israel and buried it in the West Bank village of Bateer, an outskirt of Bethlehem governorate, thus polluting the whole area and further inflicting much more risks to environment and public health. Worth mentioning, the land used for burying waste is a governmental-owned, while other pieces of land are owned by a number of Palestinian citizens such as, Isma’eel, M’amar, Kamal A. M’amar and Zeyad A. Rabah.

2. The same has been observed in the West Bank village of Kuffer Laqef, outskirt of Qaqilya governorate (starting from October 2005). In this village, Israeli Lorries evacuated waste into the village’s lands, which are owned Mofeed M. Madaneya, Shahher A. Madaneya and Wasfi F. Madaneya.

3. On January8, 2005, a number of Israeli Jewish settlers from “Meikhora” Jewish settlement, near the West Bank village of Beit Foriek village, under the protection of Israeli occupying forces and Israeli military bulldozers, buried 85.000 culled chickens that suffer Newcastle disease in “Tana” area, in the West Bank village of Beit Foriek, and at Al-Sawana area. Noteworthy the area has been used for agricultural purposes and contains water well.

4. The disposal location in Kassaret Al-Bajja in Al-Ram neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem. When the environment authority team visited Al-Ram area on October 2005, huge amounts of waste have been seen at its entrance while building materials such as, plastics, metal bottles… etc. have been buried, some of the waste has been burnt, putting environment in more risks, as foul smell spread in the air. Members of the of Al Ram village’s council accompanying the authority’s staff to the scene reported that the said place has been used for burying waste since six months.

5. Infiltrating solid waste into “Shoffa” village of the West Bank city of Tulkarem. During the last months, starting from May 2005, Israeli contractors smuggled thousands of tons of solid waste into Palestinian lands and buried them in the Shoffa village of Tulkarem. The process has been extended to include Kuffer Jammal and Flameya villages.

6. The waste, resulting from “Jeishori” factories, located at the western borders of Tulkarem city that throw waste in the area, aside of the waste, resulting from the Israeli Jewish settlements and factories.

7. The waste disposal location in Abu Shosha / Dier Sharf – Nablus.

8. The Israeli authorities, through private companies, constructed a waste disposal location at the Abu Shosha area between Qusein and Deir Sharaf villages, to the west of Nablus city, as 10 thousand tons of waste has been transferred from Al-Sharon area and “Kodomiem” Jewish settlement to the location. Such practices have dangerous effects on environment, mainly on wells that provide tens of thousands of Palestinian citizens in Nablus, Qusein, Dier Sharaf, Beit Ibya and Kuffer Qaddom villages with water.

9. The waste disposal location used by Jewish settlements near Araba / Jenin. In 1999, this location has been closed according a ruling by the Israeli High Court of Justice, yet an Israeli bulldozer, under the protection of Israeli occupying forces, dug such a  waste disposal location on October 2004, to be used by  Jewish settlers.  The location is still used for throwing waste in a way that increases environmental risks.

10. Abu Dies disposal location: It is about 300-acres and used for throwing by Israeli Jewish settlements solid waste into the Jerusalem’s lands.

11. Jayous waste disposal location:  This location lies to the west of the West Bank city of Qalqilya, it is sized about 1.2 acre and used for solid waste disposal by the Karn Shemron, Qodomiem and Ma’aleh Tchomron Jewish settlements.

12. Al-Bira waste disposal location: This site is located to the east of the West Bank city of Al-Bira and near to “Al-Taweil” Israeli Jewish settlement and used by such a settlement.

13.  The project of constructing Ramallah & Al-Bira health center (Deir Debwan): Despite lengthy negotiations and studies since several years, for constructing a healthy waste disposal location to be used by Ramallah and Al-Birah cities, the Israeli authorities refused to construct the location in area (C)* and aloud it only in area (B)*  to the east of Al-Birah city.

14.  The Israeli Jewish settlements that dispose waste in the nearby Palestinian lands

Table (1) refers to Israeli settlements and places of waste disposal:

Jewish settlements	Locations of Waste Disposal
Ariel	Cultivated land in Salfiet city
Israeli army camps near Jenin governorate	A’raba land
Israeli army camps	Tubas city
Yetsar	Al-Abadli- Abu Diers – Al-Isareya and Al-Sawahra
Alon Moraih	Beit Foriek district of Nablus

Waste from Jewish settlements and the Green Line areas contain hazardous chemical, herbicides, leather, Aluminum batteries, cement, plastic, food, wool, health, alcohol, marble, nickel and acids substances, which are harmful to both environment and public health.

Governorate	Settlement	The Factory	Harm on Environment
Ramallah	Atarot	Aluminum, food cans and plastic factories.	Alkaline materials that spoil land and desert it.
	Jef’at Hadassa	Plastic factory
	Kafroot	Avocado factory	Foul smell and harmful waste
	Nillee	Aluminum factory	Alkaline materials that make land poor.
	Halmeish	Leather factory	Using Chrome that harms land and health
Hebron	Keryat Arba’	Alcoholic drinks factory	Destroyed farms out of large sewage water being disposed as well as overloaded Hebron’s sewage water pipes.
	Siramiex	Unknown factories	Constructing 6-acre post in Yatta village for disposing waste
Nablus	Homash	Aluminum and chemical cleaning substances factories.
	Alon Moraih	Aluminum, food materials and paints factories.
	Shillo	Aluminum and leather factories
	Itamar	Aluminum factory
	Majdolien	Paints, leather and plastic factories
Jenin	Homash	batteries & candles factories	Using cadmium that pollutes land and harms plants
	Jananiet	Gas factory
Tulkarem	The Israeli industrial zone to the west of Tulkarem	Chemical insecticides factory	Damaging land, plants and human health
		Duxien for manufacturing gas	Foul-smell and storing gas would lead to environmental disaster
		Chemical fertilizers factory	Polluting air
Salfiet	Barqan	More than 80 factories	The largest Jewish settlement industrial zone in the West Bank. Its waste pollutes and destroys land.
Jericho	Ma’aleh Adomiem	Plastic Properties factory	Polluting air and land.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table (2) lists Israeli Jewish settlements that dispose hazardous waste.

Disposing of solid waste in Palestinian lands:
Industrial waste like chemicals include, zinc, Nickel and other radioactive substances the Israeli occupation forces have been used to burry in Palestinian lands for prolonged years as shown below:  
1- In 1987, Israel buried solid waste in the West Bank village of Azzon village, district of Qalqilya
2- large amounts of poisonous substances including chemicals, have been found in Azzon, Jayous and Tal Sofien villages near Qalqilya
3- In March 1999, 250 barrels of poisonous waste were transferred from Israel to Om Altout village, an outskirt of the West Bank city of Jenin.
4- Constructing waste disposal location near Yafeit Jewish settlement in the Jordan valley.

In the meantime, there are fears of burying the Israeli nuclear materials in the east of Yatta village, beside the harms, caused by the Israeli nuclear experiments at Al-Aqba Gulf area, and the usage of depleted Uranium during Al-Aqsa Intifada since November 2000.

According to International organizations like the American International Action Center and Holland Laka Foundation, Israel has used pullets and missiles, containing depleted uranium when shelling Palestinian houses.

Recommendations:
1. Reporting about Israeli violations to all relevant bodies, including the Palestinian President’s office, the Prime Minister’s and other ministries as well as the Palestinian Monitoring Group, the Negotiations Department, the concerned international institutions like the United Nations Program for Environment (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

2. Inviting the ad-hoc ministerial committee relating to the transfer and burying of Israeli hazardous waste in the Palestinian territories, to convene for discussion and follow up.

3. Making sure whether the Palestinian concerned executive bodies such as the police department, are undertaking responsibilities by taking deterrent measures against those involved in the case.

4. Initiating talks with the Israeli side through the water committee or the environment committee, for example, or the Palestinian ministry for civil affairs, the negotiations department or higher political parties, with necessary documents and images. Talks should aim at obligating the Israeli side to producing clear-cut answers to any related-inquiries.

5. Filing an appeal to the Israeli concerned authorities for any compensation in return for the damages, resulting from such environmental damages. In case the Israelis do not comply, the Palestinian side should submit the case to international bodies like the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as same as the case of the Apartheid Wall.  For this purpose, the Palestinian side should, in case, assign an ad-hoc legal team or keep all necessary documents.

6. Organizing media campaigns to raise the issue at various levels and disclose the Israeli practices, which leave a harmful impact on Palestinian environment in general and on Palestinian men, women and children, in particular.

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