The Water and Environmental Quality Authority in the Gaza Strip announced today, Wednesday, that foreign materials have been found off the coast of the Strip, after the news that there was an oil spill a week ago in the Mediterranean Sea.
Yasser Al-Shanti, head of the Water Authority in Gaza, said during a press conference off the coast of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, that a survey of the coastal strip was conducted with the participation of Gaza municipality staff and representatives of the UNDP, and last Saturday, these materials were found, which after the examination turned out to be petroleum.
He pointed out that what was monitored of those materials is small quantities that do not pose a serious threat to the environment in the Gaza Strip until this moment, indicating that this incident is being continuously monitored in cooperation with the relevant authorities.
The head of the Water and Environmental Quality Authority in Gaza called on the United Nations to take its role in this regard and implement international agreements related to the protection of the marine and coastal environment of the Mediterranean Sea, and to open an investigation into this matter and remove this pollution before its spread and its great impact on the marine environment.
He pointed out that many of the media outlets of the occupation indicated an oil spill of tens of tons, which is estimated at 200 tons (200,000 liters), which occurred off the coast of the shores of the Mediterranean, and monitored its effects on the seashore, and that pollution affected about 170 kilometers from the coastal strip, starting from The city of Haifa in the north, and reaching the city of Ashkelon in the south.
She said that many aquatic organisms died due to dangerous pollution, and others appeared covered in the thick black liquid, which could cause an environmental disaster that could extend for long periods.
In addition, many Lebanese media outlets indicated that oil spills swept across the coast of southern Lebanon, reaching the Tire Coast Marine Reserve, which comes from the territorial waters of occupied Palestine.
