Young children scavenging for food in hills of rotting waste. Once-buzzing markets and large agricultural fields turned into endless garbage lands. The waste is everywhere in Gaza with make-shift waste sites even becoming the target of airstrikes. Social media footage has revealed the scale of a threat that has largely remained unnoticed in the context of the Israel-Hamas conflict. The problem of solid waste is a slow but growing public health disaster amidst the explosive violence. Clear warnings from humanitarian agencies such as UNICEF and UNRWA demonstrate the scale, public health and environmental risks from the massive conflict-linked garbage crisis.
This PAX report uses satellite imagery and open-source investigative (OSINT) methods to visualize how Gaza is drowning in conflict waste after months of fighting. The findings include over 225 waste locations across Gaza, from massive hundreds meters long garbage heaps to small dump sites that have turned into breeding grounds of diseases and become environmental hotspots.
