Document Type

Research Project

Publication Date

Fall 9-28-2025

Abstract

Environmental destruction in conflict zones is an escalating global crisis that directly undermines climate justice and ecological stability. This policy paper examines the concept of ecocide through the lens of the war on Gaza, where the deliberate or reckless targeting of natural resources has caused severe and lasting damage to water, soil, air, and biodiversity. The Gaza case reveals how warfare can accelerate climate change, destroy carbon-absorbing ecosystems, and leave communities with uninhabitable land and poisoned water supplies. Using Gaza as the primary case study, and drawing comparisons to environmental impacts observed during the Iraq war, the paper analyzes the multiple dimensions of wartime ecological collapse: contamination of drinking water, the breakdown of sanitation infrastructure, the release of toxic gases and chemicals from explosives, and the burning of agricultural land. While the human cost of war is immediate and visible, its environmental cost is slower yet equally devastating, and global in consequence. This analysis proposes urgent policy responses: recognizing ecocide as an international crime, integrating climate-conscious recovery measures into post-conflict reconstruction, establishing UN-led environmental monitoring, and empowering local restoration efforts. Addressing the environmental cost of war is essential not only for justice but for protecting the planet’s future.

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