ELSEVIER

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY MAKING

E N V I R O N M E N T A L M A N A G E M E N T IN THE G A Z A STRIP

Mohammad R. AI-Agha The Islamic University of Gaza

The environment in the Gaza Strip has been completely destroyed since its occupation by Israel in the 1967 war. The area o f the Gaza Strip is 360 km 2. The Palestinians (900,000 people) live on 50% o f this area, and the Israeli settlers (3500 people) live on the other half. Existing basic environmental infrastructure has been neglected by the Israeli military authorities during the occupation. This article summarizes the environmental problems in the Gaza Strip, and necessary new facilities have not been built. This article discusses approaches, measures, and steps for an environmental management and legisla- tion in this area. Serious problems include noise pollution, air pollution, ground- water pollution, soil salinization, high-voltage electricity, possible radioactive hazards, and the spread o f Norwegian rats. By the time authority was handed over from the Israelis to the Palestinians (May 1994), the Gaza Strip was in need o f a comprehensive strategy for environmental management and protection. The Palestinian authorities still need to establish specific institutions suitable for the transition to a new developing political, economical, and certainly environmen- tal future. The bases on which these institutions must be established are identifi- cation, evaluation, and analysis o f environmental problems, methods o f protec- tion, and the experience o f the other societies. The experience o f the other societies will help considerably in developing an environmental management policy for the Gaza Strip. The new policy be the product o f strong legislation. Without new controls, measures, and standards for an management policy, the environmental condition o f the Gaza Strip will continue to deteriorate. © 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.

Address requests for reprints to: Mohammad R. A1-Agha, The Islamic University of Gaza, P.O. Box 108, Gaza Strip, Iran.

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FIGURE 1. Location map of the Gaza Strip.

Introduction

The Gaza Strip is located in an arid to semi-arid region. It is bordered on the south by the Sinai desert, on the east by the Naqab desert, and on the west by the Medi ter ranean (Figure 1). The annual total precipitation ranges f rom 200 to 400 mm, with an average of about 300 mm. The coastal 1- to

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2-km-wide belt along the Mediterranean sea is covered with sand dunes of about 20-40 m above sea level. Most of the Strip is covered by Quaternary soil, with clayey material increasing towards the border with Israel. The total area of the Gaza Strip is estimated to be 360 km 2. The Palestinian population was estimated to be 900,000 people in 1994; it occupies 50% of the total. Israeli settlers (3500 people) live on the other half. The high population density suggests that people in the Gaza Strip should be redis- tributed based on social, economic, political, environmental, industrial, hydrological, and agricultural factors. The Gaza Strip needs major financial and administrative efforts to construct the infrastructures needed to main- tain a suitable environmental quality.

Environmental Background

The Gaza Strip is decades behind Israel and the adjacent countries in the Middle East in terms of environmental policy, development, and protection. In all honesty, a realistic environmental management plan for the Strip must begin from point zero. We must hope that this challenging fact does not dampen the motivation of the authorities and people in the Gaza Strip to safeguard their environmental future. The historical development of the administrative system in the area does not include any considerable contribution to matters of environment, development, management, and protection. No environmental organizations, no institutions, no instructions for protection of the environment are present currently in the Gaza Strip. Even in the educational system, no environmental protection issues are considered. However, because the Gaza Strip is poised on the brink of a new economic and political era, the time is right to inaugurate environmental development in the area. There is reason to hope that by the end of the next 5-10 years a strong and effective environmental management system may emerge.

In this article, I examine the main environmental problems in the Gaza Strip and hope to partially remedy the entire lack of comprehensive, and original environmental studies in the area. Also, the article will discuss how an administrative and legislative system of environmental management could be established to prevent further environmental degradation. This article also will stimulate more reliable research to identify environmental problems and introduce suitable solutions.

Environmental Management in the Gaza Strip: Why?

The establishment of environmental management institutions or organiza- tions in the Gaza Strip is vital for the health and life of about 900,000 people, otherwise, a health and environmental crisis will continue for sev- eral reasons.

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1. The presence of several and complicated environmental problems. 2. The lack of environmental laws and/or environmental legislation. 3. The lack of environmental culture or even education. 4. The need to improve, develop, and protect the environment.

Environmental Problems in the Gaza Strip

Several serious environmental problems currently affect the Gaza Strip. Because these problems have received no serious study during the last three decades, their identification depends mostly on the personal observations of the author. Many, indeed, all of them need urgent study to suggest appro- priate protection policy. These problems include (1) air pollution, (2) groundwater pollution, (3) coastal and sea water pollution, (4) soil saliniza- tion, (5) land pollution, (6) high electricity voltage, (7) possible radioactive hazards, (8) the invasion of Norwegian rats (9) and the consequent destruc- tion of local birds and animals due to their exposure to poisonous materials used as rodent control.

Air Pollution

A discussion of the air in the Gaza Strip must begin with a discussion of the area and demography of the land. Palestinians (900,000 people) live in about 50% of the total area (360 km 2) of the Gaza Strip. Israel still has sovereignty over the other half including the Israeli settlements and some military installations; 3500 Israeli settlers are distributed in this remaining area. Due to these geographical and geopolitical factors, the area of the Gaza Strip on which the Palestinians live is very limited. Air quality is considerably worse due to pollution from several sources.

The transportation system plays an important role in damaging air quality in the Gaza Strip. High concentrations of carbon monoxides, sulphur and particulate pollutants, lead, and nitrogen-oxide are believed to be above the ambient levels permitted in the developed world. The ambient concen- trations of hydrocarbons are also high along heavily used streets of cities and along the main roads crossing smaller towns. However, the nature and standard of living, characterized by low-income levels, also contributes to air pollution.

The political and economic status of the area in the last three decades has created this situation. The principal economic factors are that (1) during the occupation of the area the Israelies concentrated on security rather than economic development; and (2) more than 90% of the private and public cars used in the Gaza Strip were manufactured between 1967 and 1975 and are not environmentally friendly. The low income level and the unemployment problems of the Gazans has obligated them to buy only very old second-hand cars. In fact, the Gaza Strip is considered the biggest market for second- and third-hand Israeli cars, thus contributing to the complexity of the environmental problems.

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The political factors are as follows: (1) The Intifada has directly affected the environment in the Gaza Strip by several means, including the burning of car tires and shooting of tear gas bombs. Since the Intifada began in 1987, the Palestinians have used burning car tires to block the main and small roads to prevent the movement of Israeli soldiers. The average num- ber of tires burned since 1987 in the Gaza Strip is about 100 per day. Burning transforms these tires into gases and solids causing serious air pollution. The average number of tear gas bombs shot by the Israeli soldiers is about 200 per day. The gas from the bombs causes severe respiratory problems. (2) Israeli military authorities in the Gaza Strip have not paid attention to environmental conservation. This is surely due to the political situation in the area.

Air pollution is believed to be responsible for many diseases spreading in the Gaza Strip, and these include acute and chronic upper and lower respiratory diseases (hundreds of cases in AI-Bureij Hospital for Respira- tory Diseases), and osteogenesis mainly among school-age children. Investi- gators also point out the relationship between mortality (particularly of children) and air pollution. Asthmatic and bronchitic diseases are increasing greatly among school children also.

Despite these circumstances, there have been no scientific studies of air pollution in the Gaza Strip. Comprehensive studies must be made in the near future to determine the causes of mortality during the last 20 years or so. Damage caused by air pollution has not been estimated or scientifically investigated in the Gaza Strip, but it certainly amounts to tens of millions of US dollars.

Hazardous Wastes and Landfills

The quantity of wastes produced in the Gaza Strip is relatively very high, and there is no recycling whatsoever. About four to six million tons of waste are disposed of annually in the Gaza Strip in vacant areas or along roads and streets. People sometimes burn the wastes to make room for future disposals; waste burning produces more gaseous and solid air pollut- ants. There are no disposal management organizations or institutions in the Gaza Strip. Even the municipalities are not well organized in this respect, and it is very common to see their sanitation crews emptying wastes in places near population centers. The introduction of low-waste-producing technologies should be encouraged by the Palestinian authorities in the Gaza Strip, otherwise the problem will escalate.

The disposal of municipal waste is very problematic because of the ex- haustion of the landfill capacity. In several disposal sites, it is common to see children playing around and in mountains of waste, which can certainly cause serious health problems. All the landfills do not satisfy environmental protection standards by any means. The authorities must establish wide- spread public participation in the segregation of collected waste to facilitate

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recycling. Paper and plastic recycling industries are the obvious first steps toward a comprehensive recycling program.

Groundwater Quality

Contamination of groundwater in the Gaza Strip is one of the most serious environmental problems facing the society. Sources of contamination are anthropogenic and natural. The anthropogenic sources include landfill and waste disposal decay, fertilizers, sewage, and cesspcfbls. The natural sources include sea water intrusion into the main coastal aquifier. In the Gaza Strip, very few areas have sewage systems. Even in these areas the construction of a municipal water supply has proceeded faster than that of a sewage system, which contributes to the complexity of the problem. Presently, about 50% of the population are supplied with water from municipal sys- tems. Kally (1990) considered the contamination and shortage of water in the Gaza Strip to have already reached a critical stage.

Groundwater in most of the Palestinian population areas is so polluted that it cannot be tapped for drinking. About 90% of drinking water supplies is insufficiently protected against pollutants. The level of danger to human health has risen as the quality of 80% of the drinking water supply systems has deteriorated (A1-Agha 1995).

New water treatment plants for at least 10 million m3/year of domestic water production capacity must be produced to accommodate the rising levels of nitrates, chlorine, bacteria, and other water pollutants. In many areas in the Gaza Strip, nitrate concentration is more than 45 ppm which is the maximum international acceptable value (A1-Agha 1993). In Khany- ounis city, most of the wells have 100-600 ppm nitrate concentration. The high concentration of nitrates is very harmful to infants; it can be lethal to those 1 year of age or less. It is suspected that several diseases are being spread among the Palestinians through the consumption of poor-quality groundwater. There have been no systematic and scientific studies regarding this point, although many unofficial reports and journalistic inquiries have confirmed the presence of such diseases. The lack of public knowledge on this subject is a political issue, as the Israeli military authorities have pre- vented the release of such information. Although the problem of groundwa- ter contamination is well known to the Israeli authorities in the Gaza Strip, they have done nothing to mitigate it during three decades of occupation.

Soil Salinization Soil is the most important natural resource in the Gaza Strip because the Palestinians depend on agricultural products as a main source of income and food. Compared to the West Bank, the proport ion of available arable land is high, about 60% of the area. However, in the last two decades, the areas utilized for farming have been considerably reduced due to problems

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in marketing and Israeli export regulations. These regulations give the Israelis the right to prevent the Palestinian farmers from exporting their products at any time.

Furthermore, many areas of agricultural land have been used for housing, which has become an escalating and complicated problem in the Gaza Strip. Given the difficult economic conditions in the area, many agricultural land owners have sold their holdings in the last two decades to other Palestinians. More than 90% of the land sold has been developed for housing.

Soil salinization has been a serious problem in the last two decades; it has become one of the most damaging processes affecting agricultural land and production. The source of salts in the soil is the highly saline water used to irrigate vegetables and citrus in the Gaza Strip. Three main sources of salts in groundwater are believed to affect soil salinity in the Gaza Strip: Mediterranean Sea water intrusion into the main coastal aquifier (A1-Agha 1995); salt water intrusion into the Gazan aquifier from beyond the Israeli border; and the pumping of groundwater in the Gaza Strip, which causes an increase in salinity. These three sources of groundwater salinization, and consequently, soil salinization have never been studied and no protec- tive steps have been taken to prevent such contamination.

Coastal and Sea Water Pollution

The Gaza Strip is located along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea (about 40 km), 20 km of which belong to the Israeli settlements. The sandy and sunny coast of the Gaza Strip is one of the most beautiful in the world. However, several spots along the coast are used as waste disposal and landfills. According to the municipal sources in Gaza, some million cubic meters of waste water are disposed of in the Mediterranean Sea annually.

This contamination can be prevented by the introduction of waste water recycling and reuse in the Gaza Strip. The introduction of these industries will require considerable financial, technical, and managerial efforts, but will contribute greatly to solving the water pollution and related economic problems in the area.

High-Electricity Voltage

In the early 1970s, a high-voltage electricity net was constructed in the Gaza Strip. While it improved the general quality of life, it was not constructed in a proper and safe way. In many areas, high-voltage electricity passes above the populated areas. Many homes are affected by high-voltage electricity 24 hours a day. Some recent reports in the United Kingdom and USA suggest a relation between brain cancer and high-voltage electricity, espe- cially in children; however, these effects have not yet been investigated in the Gaza Strip.

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Radioactive Hazards

An Israeli nuclear reactor (Dimona) is located some tens of miles to the east of the Gaza Strip. Several miles to the north is the much smaller Soriq nuclear reactor. Despite the usual safety measures in and around these reactors, there is always the danger of radiation leakage. Also, nuclear wastes stored in Israel may have some effect on the environment in the Gaza Strip and adjacent countries. Therefore, a radioactive pollution monitoring system should be established in the Gaza Strip soon to warn the government and the public of any possible radioactive risks.

Norwegian Rats

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, hundred of thousands of Norwegian rats spread through the Gaza Strip. They invaded agricultural crops, destroying hundreds of dunums of vegetated land. This invasion caused severe eco- nomic damage to many of the Palestinian farmers. These rats also invaded houses, homes, apartments, schools, stores, and shops producing an unesti- mated economic loss in the Gaza Strip. The struggle against these rats was neither well organized nor successful. People used many toxic materials that are hazardous to human health, and to nontarget animals and birds. During this period, it was very common to see dead birds, animals, and rats everywhere in the Gaza Strip, along the streets, roads, fields, coast, homes, and vegetated areas. This collective massacre of birds and animals spread a bad smell for several days or even weeks in many areas.

The absence of a collective management policy to meet this problem affected both human and animal life in the Gaza Strip very adversely. Hundreds of beautiful birds and animals died, reducing their populations and affecting their ecological roles. However, no opposition was raised to this massacre of animals and birds by either the Israeli authorities or among the Palestinians, who do not have the resources to introduce an effective solution. The source of the Norwegian rats has not yet been well investi- gated. Many of them still live in the Gaza Strip, but in smaller numbers than during the mid-1980s.

Noise Pollution

Noise pollution resulting from transportation affects more than 90% of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip. This is due to its limited and small area and the extreme overpopulation. Use of the old "second-hand" cars imported from Israel is a serious and dangerous source of noise in the Gaza Strip. The severe economic conditions in the Gaza Strip during the Israeli occupation have made it impossible for Palestinians to purchase newer, more environmentally friendly cars for transportation. Many Palestinian small industries, for example, steel design, building stones, wood design, car repairs, etc., are located in the populated areas in the cities and villages, causing more noise and trouble to the people. Some of these problems can

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be solved by transferring small industries to areas away from population centers. Mechanical and safety inspection tests for cars in the Gaza Strip should be required, and all cars not in good condition from an environmen- tal point of view should be eliminated.

Environmental Management in the Gaza Strip: When?

Now is an opportune time for the establishment of environmental institu- tions and organizations in the Gaza Strip because funds for such environ- mental projects may be available from the Western countries and Japan.

Assessment of the Gaza Strip Environmental Management

Authority-Society Interaction It is difficult to discuss a strategy for protection of the environment without discussing the important role of the new authorities in the Gaza Strip in this respect. The experience of the last three decades has proved that the public can do nothing without official help or support. However, the interaction between the society and the authorities can help to introduce a new environmental management policy. By monitoring environmental changes and damage, citizens can identify some of the environmental prob- lems which then can be solved and/or managed by the authorities and the public together. To achieve public interest in environmental concerns, citizens should be made aware of environmental problems, support environ- mental projects, and participate in environmental decision-making in sev- eral ways. Public interest in the environmental protection of the Gaza Strip can be strengthened by sensitizing people to the impacts of environmental degradation. Individual initiatives, organizations, and pressure groups can contribute significantly to building a system of environmental protection.

It is important to form parties and/or groups with special interests in environmental issues. These may function as have the Green Parties in Europe, with some modification to accommodate the nature of Palestinian culture. Also, the formation of pressure groups like special causes such as bird protection or animal rights should be welcomed by the Palestinian authorities because they promote environmental sensitivity throughout the society. However, disasters will continue unless a modern and effective system of environmental protection in the Gaza Strip is established.

Environmental development in the Gaza Strip may require the widening of responsibility of the environmental institutions. Legal and administrative organisations must be set up to approach the most significant environmen- tal tasks.

Legislation Legislation for the environmental protection of the Gaza Strip must begin soon. Municipalities, councils, schools, institutions, and universities should

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establish "Departments of Environment" for protection and/or teaching. These should form the basis of an integrated system for environmental management and legislation. The coordination of an environmental policy that meets the European Community's (EC) environmental objectives should be the goal and should be achieved within the next 10 years. While the attainment of such a goal is ambitious, the authorities should develop environmental policies with this target in mind. This goal-oriented approach will help structure environmental support as well as encourage international financial support for the environmental issues.

Problems and Constraints

In the next 5-10 years, authorities in the Gaza Strip will face many social, financial, and political problems in the establishment and implementation of environmental laws. These obstacles must be investigated and assessed. Lack of experts is another important problem. The accuracy, efficiency, and speed of evaluation, implementation and monitoring may also be com- promised by bureaucratic routine and the absence of experience.

The objectives of the management plan must be strong, clear, simple, and centralized. Decentralized management, in which many small projects are established simultaneously, may be the most effective approach to implementation of this plan. Projects should target an array of problems such as groundwater protection in specific areas, noise abatement, coast protection, waste disposal management, recycling, etc. The results of these projects must be integrated into an overall plan for the environment of the Gaza Strip. The integration process would be a very significant aspect of any environmental plan in the Gaza Strip.

Second Cairo Agreement and the Environment

The second Cairo Agreement signed between the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel on April 5, 1994 recognized the environment as an essential target in the peace negotiations. Below is an extract of this agreement:

35. Environmental Protection:

a. Israel and the Palestinian Authority shall act for the protection of the environment and prevention of environmental risks, hazards and nui- sances.

b. Israel and the Palestinian Authority shall respectively adopt, apply and ensure compliance with internationally-recognised standards con- cerning acceptable levels of land, air, water and sea pollution, and accept- able levels of treatment and disposal of solid and liquid wastes; for the use and handling of hazardous substances, including pesticides, insecti- cides and herbicides, and standards for the prevention and abatement of noise, odour, pests and other nuisances which may affect each side and the Settlements and the Military Installation Area.

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c. The Palestinian Authori ty shall take the appropriate measures to prevent the uncontrolled discharge in the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area of sewage and effluence to water sources including underground and surface water and rivers, and to promote the proper treatment of sanitary and industrial waste water.

d. In the event that Israel or the Palestinian Authori ty considers that there might be a threat to its environment, any relevant information concerning the development activity and its environmental impact shall be provided by the relevant side.

e. Israel and the Palestinian Authori ty shall respectively operate an emergency warning system in order to respond to events or accidents which may generate environmental pollution, damage or hazards. A mechanism for mutual notification and coordination in cases of such events or accidents shall be established.

f. Israel and the Palestinian Authori ty shall cooperate in implementing agreed principles and standards concerning the protection of the Medi- terranean Sea, the protection of the ozone layer, the control of movement of hazardous wastes and their disposal, the restriction of trade in endan- gered species of wild fauna and flora, and the conservation of migratory species of wild animals.

g. Israel and the Palestinian Authori ty shall establish within the Coor- dination and Cooperat ion Committee (CAC) an Environmental Experts Committee for the coordination of environmental issues, to be convened when the need arises.

It is hoped that both parties to this agreement will honor these commit- ments. The environmental issues above can be considered in part as guide- lines for environmentalists. The considerable damage done to the environ- ment during the last three decades of Israeli occupation must be evaluated and compensated for in any case. Such compensation has not been men- tioned in the agreement.

Also unmentioned are nuclear hazards, particularly possible environmen- tal damage caused by the nuclear reactors in the area. The inclusion of this issue in the peace negotiations may strengthen and maintain the peace process and should be resolved in the next stage of the peace negotiations. The presence of a single nuclear reactor in the area may cause the failure of the peace process or cause currently non-nuclear parties to develop their own nuclear capacity. These fears affect not only the PLO-Israe l peace agreement but also the pursuit of the peace process in the entire region, which includes Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and other countries. A related issue upon which all parties must agree is the disposal of the nuclear wastes.

Concluding Remarks

Several serious environmental problems have been identified in the Gaza Strip. These include air pollution, groundwater pollution, coastal and sea

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water pollution, soil salinization, land pollution, high-electricity voltage, possible radioactive hazards, and the invasion of Norwegian rats which has resulted in the destruction of indigenous bird and animal life by poisoning.

Efficient and effective environmental protection and management are urgently needed in the Gaza Strip. Without new legislation, unimaginable environmental disaster for the public is not so far away. However, as the Gaza Strip is now entering a new political and economic era, it is a good time to initiate farreaching environmental legislation. But it should be emphasized that the legislation process cannot start without the establish- ment of strong and reliable environmental institutions, organizations, and groups. Public participation in environmental conservation is very impor- tant, but it must be supported by official awareness and interest. Moreover, there is a need for environmental education and environmental awareness in the general culture. Secondary schools and universities should introduce curricular elements considering the environmental issues in the area. Unless there is interaction between the public and the authorities in the field of environmental monitoring, protection and management, the whole environ- mental project may fail to produce real and practical solutions for the complex and dangerous environmental hazards in the Gaza Strip.

The extremely low standard of living in the Gaza Strip may be considered to be the most serious impediment to environmental improvement and protection. Improvement of social and economic conditions in the Gaza Strip is vital to the success of the environmental management.

The PLO-Israel agreement signed on April 5, 1994 in Cairo focused on some environmental problems and how the two parties will cooperate to protect the environment and resolve any problem that might arise. How- ever, the agreement did not mention the threat to the environment in the area due to the presence of nuclear reactors. It is well known that Israel has two nuclear reactors within its borders.

The enforcement of the idea of environmental management in the Gaza Strip requires effective international community cooperation. Without this international cooperation, the environment in the Gaza Strip will be in very real danger. Strong initiatives must be established quickly to achieve this purpose. The success of an environmental management plan for the Gaza Strip depends on effective interaction between the international com- munity, the Palestinian authority, and the public in the Gaza Strip.

References

Al-Agha, M.R. 1995. Environmental contamination of ground water in the Gaza Strip. Environmental Geology 25:109-113.

A1-Agha, M.R. 1993. Environmental nitrate groundwater contamination in the Gaza Strip. In: Perspective for Environmental Geochemistry in Tropical Countries Abrao, J.J., Wasserman, J.C., and Filho, E.V.S. (eds). held November 29- December 12, 1993, Brazil.

Kally, E. 1991. Water in Peace: Israeli Opinion. (Translated from Hebrew into Arabic by the Institute of Palestinian Studies, Beirut. 168 pp.)