#Gaza #ReproductiveHealth #Climate #MilitaryOccupation #Environmental #Palestine #GlobalSolidarity #Epigenetics #WhitePhosphorus

Recent studies have highlighted a troubling phenomenon: the Mediterranean Sea is heating up at a rate 20 times faster than other regions. This alarming trend has far-reaching consequences, and is particularly affecting the residents of Gaza under permanent military siege. Not only the malnutrition imposed by the military occupier – now escalated to famine levels – but also global heating and repeated exposure to military and agricultural toxins is severely affecting the reproductive health of Gazans, with noticeable declines in sperm quality, and increasing difficulties for women in conceiving and carrying pregnancies to term.

Before the current assault and its intentional devastation of the health system, Gaza had at least nine fertility clinics, indicating that reproductive health problems were already well known. Families, despite their best efforts, struggled to support pregnancies amidst the challenging conditions of the blockade.

Since the latest assault, the destruction of Gaza’s largest fertility clinic by precision bombing resulted in the loss of 5,000 embryos, a devastating blow to couples who had struggled for years to conceive. These embryos represented hope and a future for many families, now extinguished. Whatever reproductive health support was available before October 7th has now been decimated.

Not only human but other mammalian reproductive health is affected by toxins and heat. Livestock breeding, once central to Gaza's agricultural economy, has also suffered significantly. The destruction wrought by the military occupier, which has also been responsible for flooding the Strip with “modern” agricultural methods including fossil fuel-based fertilisers, has steadily undermined the agricultural sector over the years of the blockade. This has led to a cascade of effects on both human and animal health.

Moreover, the concept of "demographic war" is also evident in the way illegal settlers are squeezed into the water-scarce lands of Eastern Palestine. A new study conducted by Oxfam Jerusalem underscores the severity of the situation, revealing the dire consequences of environmental and military aggression on Palestinian reproductive health.

Environmental and Health Impacts of Military Occupation

Vanessa Farr and Hanan Kaoud, researchers on the intersections between climate disruption and armed conflict, have studied the gendered impacts of ecological and military violence on Palestinian well-being, including after October 7th.

Among the violence they experience, Gazans describe surviving illegally deployed white phosphorus, which emits a strong garlic smell, affecting respiratory health and damaging internal, including reproductive organs. From 2009 onwards, after Operation Cast Lead, men and women exposed to white phosphorus have seen its effects passed on to their children. There has been a steady increase in birth defects.

In addition to exposure to military toxins, Gazans have been subjected to malnutrition and now famine for the past two decades. The longitudinal impacts of hunger and malnutrition inflicted are stunting the growth and intellectual capacity of children. These effects are not just immediate but transgenerational, or epigenetic, with studies conducted generations after the second European war in the 1940s showing that the repercussions of starvation during pregnancy can include increased rates of obesity and heart issues in subsequent generations. This research underscores that the impacts of the current suffering in Gaza will be long-term.

The Human Cost of Military Aggression

The military occupation is a full-blown assault on human rights. In addition to rising birth defects, thousands of babies and small children in Gaza now suffer from permanent violently-acquired disabilities including amputated limbs. The destruction of fertility clinics and the widespread use of white phosphorus and other illegal military toxins are deliberate acts that contribute to a decline in current and future reproductive health. The ongoing violence and environmental destruction have transformed what was once a fertile and self-sufficient land into a poisoned and barren wasteland.

Before the military occupation, the Mediterranean coast of Palestine was known for its biodiversity and vast orchards. Gaza exported fruits like oranges and strawberries.

Despite the deliberate uprooting of these trees in Operation Cast Lead and the occupation’s ongoing efforts to undermine Gaza’s food sovereignty, including through poisoning soil, air and water, the resilient people of Gaza had managed to remain self-sufficient in fruits and vegetables until October.

Now, the agricultural system lies in ruins. The destruction of seed banks and the displacement of farmers further compound the climate-related challenges faced by this heavily oppressed population.