Environment

'Silent murderer': Israel must deal with air pollution, epidemiological research finds

In an interview with The Post, Israeli researchers estimate that air pollution in Israel causes a prodigious NIS 37 billion worth of damage a year to Israelis.

|ByJUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
PROF. HAGAI LEVINE
Fire rises from the Bazan power plant in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, June 15, 2025.

Expert warns Haifa refinery is ‘time bomb’ despite limited damage in Iranian strike

The Bazan refinery in Haifa Bay has long been a source of environmental concern. The latest round of Iranian missile fire has now placed those concerns in a wartime context.

|ByGABRIEL COLODRO/THE MEDIA LINE
An Iranian Kurdish man in traditional outfit walks past an anti-US billboard displayed on a building in Tehran's Valiasr Square on February 4, 2026

WHO warns ‘black rain’ in Iran after oil strikes could cause respiratory problems

The UN health agency, which has an office in Iran and works with authorities on health emergencies, said it has received multiple reports of oil-laden rain this week.

|ByREUTERS
POPE LEO XIV puts ash on a faithful's head during the Ash Wednesday Mass at the Santa Sabina Basilica in Rome, Italy, February 18, 2026.

'A world that is ablaze': Pope Leo laments war, environmental destruction, in Ash Wednesday service

Before sprinkling ashes on the heads of participants, a sign of mortality, the pope said the ashes could represent "the weight of a world that is ablaze, of entire cities destroyed by war."

|ByREUTERS

How a Ben-Gurion University scientist is filling climate science’s biggest blank spots

From desert soils to date palms, Prof. Ilya Gelfand tracks the gases shaping our climate, and asks why no one was looking before.

JANUARY 29, 2026ByRONNIE ROSENMAN, IN COLLABORATION WITH BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV
The implications go beyond farming efficiency: Prof. Ilya Gelfand's research in Hatzeva.

Indonesia landslide death toll rises to 34 with 32 still missing

The landslide hit Pasir Langu village in Bandung Barat region early on Saturday, triggered by heavy rains starting a day earlier.

JANUARY 28, 2026ByREUTERS
Indonesian rescue members search for victims at the site of a landslide following heavy rains in Pasir Langu village, West Bandung regency, West Java province, Indonesia, January 27, 2026.

From Ukraine to Gaza, war's ecological toll sparks ecocide accountability push

As conflicts from Ukraine to Gaza ravage ecosystems, momentum is building to recognize environmental destruction as a war crime

JANUARY 27, 2026BySTEPHANIE L. FREID
Plumes of smoke rise after the IDF carried out house demolitions in the northern Gaza Strip in January. It is believed that between 80,000 and 200,000 tons of munitions were fired or dropped on Gaza over two years of war.

Environmental cooperation emerges as cornerstone for Middle East peace, experts say

Shared environmental needs could succeed in creating stability in the Middle East, experts say

JANUARY 27, 2026BySTEPHANIE L. FREID
An aerial view of the Jordan River flowing along the border between Israel and Jordan. Environmental experts are pushing for a plan that could build environmentally sustainable interdependence among countries in the region.

Israel's overlooked challenge: Environmental damage from two years of war - from the editor

As the war winds down, Israel faces a quieter crisis – environmental damage from Gaza to the Dead Sea, alongside long-neglected ecological failures now demanding urgent attention

JANUARY 27, 2026ByRUTH MARKS EGLASH
Visitors walk across salt formations along the receding shoreline of the Dead Sea, a stark sign of the region’s growing environmental crisis.

Seeing sinkholes: How the Dead Sea’s collapse became a tourist draw

How one of the region’s worst environmental disasters has become a popular tourist excursion

JANUARY 27, 2026ByRUTH MARKS EGLASH
Hikers trek past a cavernous sinkhole on the shores of the Dead Sea near Ein Gedi.

The land still burns: Israel’s damaged forests face long road to recovery after war

After two years of war, Israel is counting the environmental costs – from blackened forests in the North to degraded soil in the South

JANUARY 27, 2026BySAM HALPERN
An employee of Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority inspects a burnt tree following a rocket attack from bordering Lebanon, at the Tel Dan nature reserve in northern Israel in November 2024.

Gaza facing environmental catastrophe as 60 million tons of toxic war debris buried under rubble

As Gazans struggle to recover from the war – trash, sewage, and toxic debris are creating an environmental catastrophe

JANUARY 27, 2026ByDANA BEN-SHIMON
A man searches through piles of garbage in Gaza City.

Israel’s freshwater balancing act: The Kinneret under strain

Intensive management has saved the Kinneret from crisis, but rising salinity and ecological change pose growing risks

JANUARY 27, 2026BySAM HALPERN
An aerial view of the Kinneret. To the casual observer, the lake, also known as the Sea of Galilee, appears to be a rare environmental success story in an era of climate uncertainty.

'Pollution without borders': Gaza sewage flows north, contaminating Israeli waters

The collapse of the sewage infrastructure in Gaza is not just a local humanitarian crisis but an environmental threat to Israel and beyond

JANUARY 27, 2026ByPATRICIA GOLAN
Tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.