GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Water and Environmental Quality Authority in the Gaza Strip announced March 3 that the oil spill that appeared in the Mediterranean Sea in early February has been washing up on the Gaza beaches, days after it reached the Israeli shores.

It remains unclear what exactly caused the oil spill that has polluted more than 170 kilometers (106 miles) of the Israeli beaches, reached the shores of the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, and harmed marine life in the area. Israel believes it was caused by a leak of 200 tons of oil from an oil tanker sailing 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the shores of Israel, Gaza and Lebanon.

The head of the Water and Environmental Quality Authority in Gaza, Yasser al-Shanti, told Al-Monitor that the oil spill started appearing on the shores of the Gaza Strip in early March, “More oil is on its way to the shores of Gaza in the coming days,” he warned.

He said, “More tar is expected to blacken and pollute the shores of the Gaza Strip, killing a large number of fish. This environmental [catastrophe] coincides with the beach and swimming season that will kick off at the end of next month [April]. Cleaning up the oil tar takes a long time, a government plan and specialized [equipment] that is not available in the Gaza Strip.”