Air pollution from illegal waste burning in the Palestinian Authority kills more than 1,000 Israelis each year, environmental groups told lawmakers last week, as Israel moves to combat what officials are calling a campaign of deliberate “eco-terrorism.”
The Knesset’s Subcommittee on Judea and Samaria Affairs convened on Thursday to address the escalating health crisis caused by smoke from dozens of pirate garbage disposal sites operating across Palestinian Authority-controlled territories. The toxic fumes, generated by the daily burning of plastics, batteries, and other hazardous materials, have transformed large swaths of central Israel into zones where residents must seal their homes and keep children indoors to avoid respiratory illness.
MK Zvi Sukkot, chairman of the subcommittee and a resident of Yitzhar in Samaria, introduced the term “eco-terrorism” during Thursday’s hearing. Sukkot argued that the Palestinian Authority maintains the burning sites not simply to dispose of waste, but to deliberately harm Israeli health and quality of life. The lawmaker represents the Religious Zionist Party and convened the session after constituents reported worsening conditions.
A representative from Green Now, an environmental watchdog organization, testified that toxic fumes from the daily garbage fires caused approximately 1,400 excess deaths among Israelis in 2023. The group’s data tracks mortality increases linked to carcinogenic substances released when Palestinians burn materials, including plastics and batteries, at unregulated dump sites throughout Judea and Samaria.
Beyond the death toll, Sukkot noted that the smoke forces Israelis to seal their windows and avoid outdoor activities. Communities on both sides of the 1949 armistice line face the same threat as carcinogenic particles drift across the region.
Modi’in, a city of more than 100,000 residents in central Israel located 18 miles west of Jerusalem, has suffered particularly severe impacts. Clean Air Israel, a nonprofit organization, documented 2,763 complaints about smoke and odor hazards in October alone. Modi’in residents filed 1,034 of those complaints, representing 37 percent of the total.
The crisis has intensified with the recent establishment of a new burning site in Na’alin, near Modi’in. Mayor Haim Bibas appealed directly to Defense Minister Israel Katz this month, demanding that the Israel Defense Forces extinguish the fires and enforce Israeli law in the area.
Some 250,000 Israelis living in communities along the Samaria security barrier face what Channel 12 News described as an “escalating environmental and health emergency.” Tens of thousands of residents in Emek Hefer, Menashe, Shoham, and surrounding towns have reported sleepless nights, strong odors, and respiratory problems.
“We are trapped inside our home because of the severe air pollution from waste burning beyond the Green Line,” Talia, a Shoham resident and mother of two, told Channel 12. “The children experience breathing difficulties, and some parents keep them home. Sealing the house creates humidity and mold, and people wake up at night from the infiltration of pollutants. We even have to buy air purifiers with our own money. This is a reality combining immediate health danger with constant stress.”
Galit Shaul, head of the Hefer Valley Regional Council, told the broadcaster she was considering legal action against the state. “The waste fires harm quality of life and cause severe environmental and health damage,” Shaul stated. “In addition to the fires, the Alexander River is polluted by large amounts of Palestinian sewage.”
Shaul noted that after “a long struggle,” the state allocated approximately 250 million shekels ($76 million) for a new purification facility. “But the fires must stop,” she added.
MK Yitzhak Kroizer of the Otzma Yehudit Party, who chairs the Knesset Health Committee, urged the government to immediately advance a plan to address what he termed “environmental terrorism.” The Ministry of Environmental Protection responded that while it was “deeply concerned” and had launched a strategic plan to boost enforcement, the Defense Ministry has delayed implementation.
Israel launched a new program earlier this month to combat pirate garbage disposal sites in Judea and Samaria. The initiative will be funded using tax money that Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority from PA residents employed by Israeli businesses.
The environmental warfare extends beyond garbage burning. Hamas terrorists have for years launched incendiary devices from Gaza that ignite fires across Israeli farmland and nature reserves. These cross-border arson attacks have destroyed thousands of acres of crops and woodland, representing another front in the campaign of ecological destruction aimed at Israeli communities.
The convergence of garbage fires, sewage dumping, and deliberate arson attacks reveals a pattern of environmental assault that Israeli lawmakers now recognize as a systematic threat to public health and national security. The death toll—over 1,000 Israelis annually—exceeds casualties from many conventional terrorist operations, yet the response has lagged behind the scale of the emergency. Israel’s decision to finally allocate captured tax revenues toward addressing the crisis signals recognition that environmental destruction constitutes genuine warfare, demanding a response as urgent as any military threat.