“A study [published by the Social Science Research Network], shared exclusively with the Guardian, found the long-term climate cost of destroying, clearing, and rebuilding Gaza could top 31 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). This is more than the combined 2023 annual greenhouse gases emitted by Costa Rica and Estonia…
“Hamas bunker fuel and rockets account for about 3,000 tons of CO2e, the equivalent of just 0.2% of the total direct conflict emissions, while 50% were generated by the supply and use of weapons, tanks, and other ordnance by the Israeli military (IDF), the study found.”
So far, so bad.
“Overall, researchers estimate that the long-term climate cost of Israel’s military destruction in Gaza – and recent military exchanges with Yemen, Iran, and Lebanon – is equivalent to charging 2.6 billion smartphones or running 84 gas power plants for a year. This figure includes the estimated 557,359 tCO2e arising from the occupation-era construction of Hamas’s network of tunnels and Israel’s ‘iron wall’ barrier.”
Israel, it seems, is at fault for being attacked by other countries, two of them some 2,000 km. away. When I rush to the bomb shelter during missile attacks from Yemen (recently, almost every day), I selfishly don’t worry about the possible carbon footprint of the Israel Air Force knocking out the launching areas.
It is, apparently, Israel’s fault that the Hamas terrorist regime decided to build a warren of terror tunnels to attack and abduct Israelis. The barrier constructed to keep terrorists out was so far from being an “iron wall” that the earliest images of the invasion on October 7 include the metal fence being breached by the terrorists’ bulldozers.
Among the report’s findings: “The Houthis in Yemen launched an estimated 400 rockets into Israel between October 2023 and January 2025, generating about 55 tCO2e. Israel’s aerial response generated almost 50 times more planet-warming greenhouse gases.
“A previous study found that shipping emissions rose by an estimated 63% after the Houthis blocked the Red Sea corridor, forcing cargo ships to take longer routes.” But don’t blame the Houthis.
Why not mention other countries causing great environmental and social harm?
If this were really about justice – environmental, social, or otherwise – there would be some mention of the famine in Yemen caused by the Shi’ite jihadist regime there.
Israel is routinely – falsely – accused of creating a famine and genocide. Focusing on Israel allows mass starvation and ethnic cleansing in places like Yemen and Sudan to continue unhindered by the world of “justice” writers and warriors.
“A conservative estimate of emissions from two large-scale exchanges of missiles between Israel and Iran topped 5,000 tCO2e, with more than 80% down to Israel,” the report states.
Iran launched massive bombardments of missiles and killer drones on Israel – and it’s Israel’s fault. We should have taken it lying down.
“In Lebanon, more than 90% of the estimated 3,747 tCO2e generated by sporadic exchanges came from IDF bombs, with only 8% linked to Hezbollah rockets. The carbon cost of reconstructing 3,600 homes destroyed in southern Lebanon is almost as high as the annual emissions from the island of St Lucia.”
It sounds bad but with a population of roughly 180,000, the Caribbean island has more of a carbon tiptoe than footprint; it ranks 189 out of 206 countries according to Worldometer’s chart of CO2 emissions.
The cost – human, economic, and environmental – of rebuilding destroyed homes, schools, workplaces, and community centers destroyed by the rockets from Lebanon is not mentioned. I parochially worry about the welfare of residents of Metulla and elsewhere in northern Israel, unable to return to their homes.
According to the report, “Israel’s military budget surged in 2024 to $46.5b. – the largest increase in the world, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute… This is more than the entire carbon footprint of Eritrea.” (Eritrea ranks 170 on the CO2 chart)
The reason the military budget surged was, of course, because the country was under attack. Israelis would also prefer to spend the money on health, education, and social welfare. And, yes, even on environmental protection.
Lakhani includes a response from Astrid Puentes – whose official title is UN special rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment – and from a couple of Palestinians. But there’s no response from any Israeli official or environmentalist; not even a fig leaf attempt at appearing impartial.
“This report is a staggering and sobering reminder of the ecological and environmental cost of Israel’s genocidal campaign on the planet and its besieged people,” said Zena Agha, policy analyst for Palestinian policy network Al-Shabaka, as quoted by Lakhani. Referring to “the Israeli settler state,” Agha charged that it is part of “the Western military-industrial complex.”
I have a suggestion: Pressure Hamas to release the hostages, disarm, and stop the war. This would benefit not only the environment but also human beings everywhere.
CLIMATE ACTIVIST poster girl Greta Thunberg immediately got in on the act. On October 20, 2023 – before the bodies of all 1,200 victims of the Hamas attack had been found and identified – she posted a photo of herself holding a sign stating, “Stand with Gaza” alongside three friends, whose signs included a call for “Climate justice now!!”
This is intersectionality on steroids. If you care about the climate, you must stand against Israel – on the side of the terrorists. As I write, Thunberg is making her way to Gaza as part of a protest flotilla. Greta, I ask you in your own words: “How dare you?”
Calling for “climate justice” while ignoring the greatest injustice perpetrated against the Jewish people since the end of the Nazi regime, is grotesque. Describing Israel’s response as a crime against the planet is so perverted it is a crime in its own right – a form of mind pollution.
Like other forms of pollution, the adverse effects cross borders.
The result can be seen in attacks like the lethal shooting last month of two young Israeli diplomats in Washington by a man, identified with the far Left, who screamed “Free, free Palestine!”, and the attack on Sunday in Boulder, Colorado, where 12 people were wounded when an Egyptian terrorist shouting the same slogan threw firebombs at a crowd of people participating in a solidarity rally for the hostages in Gaza.
This has nothing to do with justice. It’s about creating a global climate against Israel. And far from making the world a better place, it creates an atmosphere that encourages global jihad.
