They bulldozed my house and destroyed my olive, fruit and citrus trees," says Mounir Hamouda ChaSt, an employee of the Gaza Municipality, who was displaced and made homeless after his house was completely destroyed by massive bombardments by the Zionist army. The Zionist army has been waging an asymmetric war against the people of Gaza for almost four months. Condemned last week by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for "a real and imminent risk of genocide,' the Jewish state, which has always disregarded the rules of international law and all UN resolutions (since its creation), continues its barbaric acts against nature and living beings in both Gaza and the West Bank. According to environmental activists, NGOs and testimonies from Palestinian civilians, its criminal actions began well before October 7, 2023, the date on which the current war broke out. The pace of aggression has particularly accelerated during the current war. Hundreds of videos show Israeli tanks and bulldozers raiding farmland in Gaza, uprooting trees, destroying crops and infrastructure, leaving behind polluted water, air and soil and an uninhabitable environment. Environmental crime: Olive groves the first victims Mounir, who lived with his wife and five children in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood in southern Gaza City, had hoped to find refuge in his second home in the middle of his farmland in Khan Younes. "Unfortunately, it too has been completely destroyed," he said with regret. "The occupiers' bulldozers razed everything to the ground and destroyed my fruit trees," he repeated in a telephone call to TAP. Accompanied by his son, amidst the rubble and the remains of olive trees, he was keen to film and photograph what remained of his farm in a savagely denatured landscape and a destroyed plantation. In Gaza, where the Zionist army's attacks have killed more than 26,000 people in just two months, most of them children and women, several videos document live the relentless attack by Israeli soldiers on olive groves in particul ar, the emblematic family heritage of Palestine. Since 1967, Israeli soldiers and 'settlers' in occupied Palestine have destroyed 800,000 olive trees in an attempt to force Palestinian farmers off their land, writes Megan Perry, quoted by Theecologist.org. Nidhal Atallah, coordinator of the Environmental Justice Programme at the Heinrich Böll Foundation - Palestine and Jordan, in Ramallah, says that "all the factors for ecocide are present, especially as the term well defines environmental damage that affects ecosystems, animal and plant species, and thus the human communities that depend on them". "In addition to dropping thousands of tonnes of bombs and explosives with devastating effects on the environment, the occupation has been waging a war on water and thirsty Palestinians for decades. Contacted by telephone by TAP news agency, Atallah said "the occupation is using a systematic and immoral tactic to cut off and pollute water sources, not only in Gaza but also in the West Bank". He continued: "The Zionist army has always deliberately destroyed the land in the eastern zones and around Gaza, which is the 'breadbasket' of the population. Palestinian farmers have had to endure this kind of vandalism for 17 years, in addition to the illegal blockade imposed by the occupier". Several Palestinian organisations have documented all the environmental damage since the 2014 war, which lasted more than 50 days. "But in my opinion, the current war is by far the cruelest. The occupation army has used all kinds of toxic chemicals, including white phosphorus, which has had a catastrophic impact on the environment," adds Atallah. Disastrous situation in the water sector According to Atallah, the water sector is the worst affected and the situation in the invaded strip is catastrophic. "Tons of concrete rubble containing cement and heavy metals, mixed with rainwater and sewage, are contaminating water sources and destroying the entire water infrastructure. A note by Razan Zuayter, chairperson of the board of the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature revealed that "Zionist attacks take many forms, including the burning of orchards and buildings, the uprooting of trees, and the theft and destruction of crops, equipment and fodder. Zionist bulldozers continue to raze Palestinian land and infrastructure to make way for 13,000 new settlements, "The losses resulting from the barbaric attacks on Palestinian agriculture during the period from October 7 to December 1, 2023 are estimated at $22,585 million. 95% of these losses are in the olive sector," added Zuayter, who is also co-founder of the Arab Network for Food Sovereignty and a member of the Subcommittee for the Eradication of Hunger in the Arab Region The agricultural sector, which is of particular importance to the Palestinian people, has been targeted and devastated by the war and the crimes of ecocide. "The army and settlers have prevented the harvesting of 1,977,615 olive trees, causing the Palestinian economy in the West Bank alone to lose more than $11 million ( $11,541,740), or 51% of the losses in the Palestinian agricultural sector, in less than two months. The pace of attacks intensified during the harvest season in 2023". A Palestinian farmer, Bilel Salah, from the village of Al-Sawia in the West Bank district of Nablus, was killed as he went to his land to harvest olives," the Zuaytar note said. Food, a weapon of war against the Palestinians "Despite all the plans to displace the Palestinian population and steal their land, the Palestinian farmers have held out and opened the harvest season. Their resistance inspires us and gives us the strength to continue our campaign within the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature to support the resistance in Gaza and expose the crimes of the occupier and its intention to use food as a weapon of war against Palestinian civilians," she wrote. "We are continuing our 1 million trees campaign in Palestine. We have now planted 3 million fruit trees in the four corners of Palestine. Every square inch of Palestine is importa nt to us, and every tree planted will be there to welcome us the day we return," writes Razan Zuaytar. The Zionist army, which is constantly waging wars in Palestine and Lebanon, as well as raids in Syria, is constantly committing crimes against nature, according to Palestinian environmental activists, including Nidhal Atallah. Documenting these crimes, as well as those against human beings, is now essential if justice is to be done to the Palestinian people and to nature, says Nidhal Atallah. "This is the first genocide in which the victims document their own destruction live. Gaza is a moral failure. The world should be ashamed," declared Adila Hassim, Pretoria's chief representative in The Hague, as she presented her case against Israel for "genocide" in Gaza to the ICJ. South Africa has filed a complaint against Israel for genocide in Gaza and referred the matter to the International Court of Justice for this crime against humanity. On Friday, January 26, 2024, the court called for Palestinians to be p rotected from a "real and imminent threat" of genocide. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse