By: TPS Staff
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has taken advantage of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown to establish a new illegal dump in Israeli territory, the Regavim organization has discovered.
The Ramallah Municipality, the seat of the Palestinian Authority and de facto capital of the autonomous areas under PA control, dumped thousands of tons of rubbish into an abandoned quarry in the Binyamin region, near a central mall and industrial center.
The PA took advantage of the fact that law enforcement activity was cut back by 70% during the lockdown to dispose of thousands of tons of garbage.
In a short period of a few weeks, thousands of cubic meters of garbage were dumped into the abandoned quarry near the Sha’ar Binyamin Commercial Center.
Trucking the garbage from Ramallah and El Bireh to an area normally policed by the Civil Administration, the PA saved itself significant expenses while polluting the area.
The waste was burned in giant bonfires that spewed toxic smoke while polluting the soil and air for miles around.
Regavim, an organization dedicated to protecting Israel’s resources and land, assessed the environmental damage using drone surveillance capabilities, and the findings showed that three enormous piles, each towering to heights of dozens of meters, amounted to more than 10,000 cubic meters of garbage.
Yishai Hemo Field Coordinator for Judea and Samaria at Regavim, said that “the illegal garbage dumps that pop up throughout Judea and Samaria every summer present an ongoing challenge, but this particular dump is something else altogether.”
“The sheer quantity of the garbage that accumulated in a few short weeks, without anyone taking the trouble to stop and investigate what has been going on literally under their noses, is unprecedented,” he stated.
Yisrael Gantz, Head of the Binyamin Regional Council, accused the PA of generating pollution that is “eco-terrorism.”
“Apparently, the natural beauty of this area’s unique ecosystem is of no interest to the Palestinians – even though many of them enjoy and benefit from it,” he added, calling on the State of Israel to “take responsibility for protecting the environment in Binyamin, and throughout Judea and Samaria.
(TPS)
