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Israel-Hamas escalation halts sewage treatment, generates ecological crisis

Gaza incendiary balloons made Israel stop fuel import into the Gaza Strip, causing in turn for Gaza sewage plants to cease operating.
A photo taken on June 24, 2019 shows raw sewage flowing near the main Gaza Strip power plant, serving the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, south of Gaza City. - Finance officials were flying into Bahrain today for a US-led peace conference that holds out billions of dollars for the Palestinians, whose leaders pronounced the idea dead on arrival. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)        (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warplanes, tanks and drones attacked Hamas targets in northern Gaza on the evening of Aug. 23, in response to repeated incendiary and explosive-laden balloon attacks launched into Israel. The Israeli army said it had struck “military posts and underground infrastructure of the Hamas terror group in southern Gaza.”

According to the Israeli authorities, Gaza incendiary balloons sparked 28 fires in the south of the country on Aug. 23. Hundreds of fires have been ignited near the Israel-Gaza border since the beginning of the month. A salvo of 12 rockets and projectiles was fired at Israel on Aug. 20, with one rocket hitting and severely damaging a home in the southern town of Sderot.

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