Garbage is poisoning Gaza

JVL Introduction

The devil, as they say, is in the detail.

Even when committing genocide.

There are so many ways of turning the screw: scholasticide, domicide, politicide. And, let’s face it, good old-fashioned, slow-acting poison.

That’s what’s happening to people living in tents “at the foot of a hillside of rotting garbage towering some 25 feet in the middle of Gaza City”.

Israel has systematically destroyed Gaza’s civilian infrastructure. Now, with the landfill sites traditionally used lying inaccessibly across the “yellow line” there is nowhere for Gaza’s waste but up.

The UN Development Program reports blandly on the coming of the winter rains: “Blocked drainage systems and uncollected waste increase the risk of waterborne diseases and hinder access to shelters. Without sustained waste collection and safe disposal, public health risks are expected to escalate this season.”

Hosni Mhana, the spokesperson for the Gaza Municipality talks of “a near-complete collapse of essential services”.

Just remember: this waste crisis is not an accident. It has been created by and is maintained by Israel’s brutal occupation. Genocides don’t just happen. Hundreds, thousands of people every day choose to implement policies which make them possible – and inevitable.

RK

PS: see the original article for two short videos of Gaza’s waste crisis.

This article was originally published by Drop Site News on Tue 16 Dec 2025. Read the original here.