What is happening in the Gaza Strip is not only genocide but also “ecocide,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday, speaking in Antalya at the United Nations climate summit, COP31.
The Turkish president urged the international community to recognize the environmental consequences of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He also called on the Israeli government to allow more humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory.
“Century-old olive trees have been cut down. The soil and water in the Gaza Strip have been contaminated, and its cities have been turned into huge piles of rubble,” Erdogan said, as quoted by The Associated Press.
According to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), cited by AP, more than 97% of tree crops, 82% of annual crops, 95% of shrubland and 89% of grassland and fallow land in the Gaza Strip had been destroyed as of May 2025.
“Palestinian families now have access to only 3% of agricultural land, and that is assuming it would be divided among 2 million Palestinians,” said Mohammed Usrof, co-founder and executive director of the Palestinian Institute for Climate Strategy.
The report also states that the conflict has “almost completely destroyed” fishing in the Gaza Strip, and that marine ecosystems have been contaminated by munitions, sewage and solid waste. “For the residents of the Gaza Strip, this means drastically limited access to safe drinking water, greater exposure to waterborne diseases and toxic substances, deepening food insecurity, and the loss of livelihoods tied to agriculture and fishing,” Ghiwa Nakat, executive director of Greenpeace MENA, told AP.
The COP31 summit began Monday. Leaders attending are seeking to reach an agreement on concrete steps to curb global warming. More than 70 heads of state and senior government officials are taking part, though several key leaders are absent, including the heads of state of the United States, China and India. (PAP)
