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Clearing Gaza war rubble could release 90K tonnes of greenhouse gases: study

Clearing Gaza war rubble could release 90K tonnes of greenhouse gases: study
A Palestinian girl makes her way through rubble after an Israeli strike on Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, July 10, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 22 July 2025

Clearing Gaza war rubble could release 90K tonnes of greenhouse gases: study

Clearing Gaza war rubble could release 90K tonnes of greenhouse gases: study
  • Estimated 39 million tonnes of concrete debris created between October 2023 and December 2024
  • Findings suggest it could take up to 37 years to clear the enclave using locally available equipment

LONDON: Rubble in Gaza caused by Israeli bombardment could cause more than 90,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, a study has suggested.

Research using open-source data published in the journal Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability suggested that about 39 million tonnes of concrete debris had been created between the start of the war in October 2023 to December a year later.

It added that 2.1 million truck journeys spanning a total of 29.5 million km would be needed to move it, generating about 66,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. 

Researchers at the universities of Oxford and Edinburgh based their findings on two scenarios, one which assumed 80 percent of the debris was viable for crushing, which with a fleet of 50 industrial machines would take more than half a year and add a further 2,976 tonnes of CO2 emissions. 

Using the same number of local, smaller crushers could take up to 37 years to complete the task, and generate 25,149 tonnes.

The longer the task took, the researchers said, the more additional emissions would be produced, adding that the model did not account for additional emissions caused by other substances left in the enclave such as asbestos, as well as unexploded ordnance.

It is believed that about 90 percent of homes in Gaza, as well as a significant proportion of its infrastructure, have been destroyed by Israeli strikes.

“The CO2 emissions from clearing and processing the rubble may seem small compared to the total climate cost of the destruction in Gaza, but our micro-focus unpacks the labor and work required to even begin the process of reconstruction,” said Samer Abdelnour, the study’s lead author and senior lecturer in strategic management at the University of Edinburgh Business School.

“While filling the military emissions gap is important, our work can also support Palestinian policymakers, civil engineers, planners and other workers on the ground who are determined to reclaim what was lost, stay on the land and rebuild.”

Nicholas Roy, a statistical science student at Oxford University and co-author of the study, said: “Looking ahead, finer spatial and temporal resolution of satellite images, advances in deep learning for building and damage classification, and methods that integrate information from different perspectives — such as street-level cellphone footage and top-down satellite images — open new opportunities to estimate military emissions across different scopes and better understand the true climate cost of war.” 

The carbon footprint of global military activity is estimated at about 5.5 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions — more than civil aviation and international shipping combined. The Gulf region in particular is uniquely vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Ben Neimark, a senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London investigating the climate impact of Israeli military activity, told The Guardian: “The methodological focus on debris is cutting-edge work, highlighting often-missed environmental damage left by militaries after the war is over. It provides a fresh look at the daily images of bombed-out buildings and rubble from Gaza, rather than seeing them as longer-term climate impacts of war.”

In June, Neimark’s work estimated that the impacts of Israel’s war in Gaza could release more than 31 million tonnes of CO2. 

Stuart Parkinson, executive director of Scientists for Global Responsibility, told The Guardian: “Militaries and war are large and hidden contributors to the climate crisis … it is important to include the full range of activities from production of the military equipment to fuel use during warfighting, from the damage to carbon stores like forests to cleanup efforts and reconstruction following the end of the war. This study adds to this bigger picture of war-related emissions.”


Hamas confirms it responded to latest Gaza truce proposal

Hamas confirms it responded to latest Gaza truce proposal
Updated 25 sec ago

Hamas confirms it responded to latest Gaza truce proposal

Hamas confirms it responded to latest Gaza truce proposal
  • Negotiators from both sides have been holding indirect talks in Doha with mediators

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Hamas confirmed on Thursday that it has responded to an Israeli proposal for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, after more than two weeks of indirect talks in Qatar have failed to yield a truce.
“Hamas has just submitted its response and that of the Palestinian factions to the ceasefire proposal to the mediators,” the Palestinian militant group said in a statement on Telegram.
The response included proposed amendments to clauses on the entry of aid, maps of areas from which the Israeli army should withdraw, and guarantees on securing a permanent end to the war, according to a Palestinian source familiar with ongoing talks in Doha.
Negotiators from both sides have been holding indirect talks in Doha with mediators in an attempt to reach an agreement on a truce deal that would see the release of Israeli hostages.
Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
But the talks have dragged on for more than two weeks without a breakthrough, with each side blaming the other for refusing to budge on their key demands.
For Israel, dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities is non-negotiable, while Hamas demands firm guarantees on a lasting truce, a full withdrawal of Israeli troops and the free flow of aid into Gaza.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer on Wednesday accused Hamas of obstructing talks.
“Israel has agreed to the Qatari proposal and the updated (US special envoy Steve) Witkoff proposal, it is Hamas that is refusing,” Mencer told reporters, adding that Israel’s negotiating team was still in Doha and talks were ongoing.
The United States said Witkoff will head to Europe this week for talks on a possible ceasefire and an aid corridor.
More than 100 aid organizations warned on Wednesday that “mass starvation” was spreading in Gaza.


Canada calls for immediate resumption of UN-led aid in Gaza

Canada calls for immediate resumption of UN-led aid in Gaza
Updated 54 min 3 sec ago

Canada calls for immediate resumption of UN-led aid in Gaza

Canada calls for immediate resumption of UN-led aid in Gaza

OTTAWA: The Canadian government said on Wednesday that Israeli military operations against civilians and aid workers in Gaza were unacceptable, and called for the immediate resumption of UN-led aid distribution in the war-torn enclave.
“Israeli military operations against WHO staff and facilities, World Food Programme aid convoys, & the ongoing killing of Palestinians seeking urgently needed food and water are unacceptable,” the Canadian foreign ministry said on X.
“Hunger in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels ... Canada calls for the immediate resumption at scale of UN-led aid,” the ministry added. 


Iraqi governor quits after mall fire

Iraqi governor quits after mall fire
Updated 23 July 2025

Iraqi governor quits after mall fire

Iraqi governor quits after mall fire
  • Mohammed Al-Miyahi said he resigned ‘in honor of the blood of the martyrs’

BAGHDAD: The governor of an Iraqi province where a fire in a shopping mall killed more than 60 people resigned Wednesday.

The fire last Wednesday tore through a newly opened shopping center in the town of Kut in Wasit province. 
While an investigation is ongoing, officials and residents have said that lack of safety measures in the building exacerbated the tragedy.
Provincial Gov. Mohammed Al-Miyahi said he had resigned “in honor of the blood of the martyrs, as they are in need of a gesture that may soothe part of their deep wounds, and in loyalty to them and to the people of this province.” 
The provincial council elected a new governor, Hadi Majid Kazzar.
The fire had sparked widespread public anger, with families of the victims demanding the governor’s dismissal and that others responsible for negligence be held accountable. 
They asserted that the blaze was the result of a long history of administrative corruption and weak oversight.
Iraqi parliament speaker Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani had sent an official request to Prime Minister Mohammad Shia Al-Sudani calling for the governor’s dismissal, and the Cabinet decided in a session on Tuesday to refer Al-Miyahi to the investigation.
Al-Miyahi previously said that the building owner did not implement fire safety measures and had not applied for required permits, and that legal complaints had been filed against the owner and shopping center owner.
Poor building standards have often contributed to tragic fires in Iraq. In July 2021, a blaze at a hospital in the city of Nasiriyah that killed between 60 to 92 people was determined to have been fueled by highly flammable, low-cost type of “sandwich panel” cladding that is illegal in Iraq.
In 2023, more than 100 people died in a fire at a wedding hall in the predominantly Christian area of Hamdaniya in Nineveh province after the ceiling panels above a pyrotechnic machine burst into flames.


The stark reality of how Israel treats its own Druze citizens

The stark reality of how Israel treats its own Druze citizens
Updated 23 July 2025

The stark reality of how Israel treats its own Druze citizens

The stark reality of how Israel treats its own Druze citizens
  • Bombing campaign in Syria to protect minority group highlights tensions over Israel’s treatment of its own Druze citizens
  • Generations of Druze have served in Israel’s armed forces, but many now question what their loyalty has earned them in return

LONDON: Israel mounted a bombing campaign across Syria last week with the stated objective of protecting the Druze community of Sweida from attack by Bedouin fighters amid a recent upsurge in sectarian violence.

Yet, this purported humanitarian intervention on behalf of a vulnerable religious minority has drawn attention to the disparity in Israel’s treatment of its own Druze citizens, prompting accusations of double standards.

For centuries, the Druze — an enigmatic religious community whose origins in the Levant date back to the 11th century — have guarded their beliefs and customs behind a veil of secrecy.

Today, amid mounting regional upheaval and intensifying sectarian conflict, the fate of this small group — whose numbers are dwarfed by those of their neighbors — has become a critical test case for questions of loyalty, identity, and equal citizenship within modern nation states.

Israeli troops on July 16 sought to control crowds and prevent Druze from crossing the border with Syria, after deadly violence in the country's south that prompted Damascus to send in government forces. (AFP)

Nowhere are these tensions more apparent than in Israel, where the Druze have forged a uniquely complex relationship with the Jewish majority, one marked by military partnership and shared sacrifice, yet also by persistent inequality and simmering frustration.

As a result of their opposition to conversion and discouragement of intermarriage, the Druze community remained small in number and vulnerable, constantly maneuvering politically for their own survival among more powerful forces.

Still, when push comes to shove, they can prove to be fearless warriors.

The special relationship between the Jewish and Druze communities already existed in Mandatory Palestine. This relationship grew closer and stronger after Israel declared its independence, although it remains rather complex.

One of the tenets of Druze philosophy — some might call it a survival mechanism — is loyalty to the state where they reside. In this sense, Israel is no exception.

Syrian Druze people cross back into Syria as they walk at the Israeli-Syrian border, in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights town of Majdal Shams, on July 17, 2025. (AP)

In 1956, at the request of the Druze community’s leaders, Druze men became subject to the military draft upon turning 18, just like their Jewish compatriots.

This created a covenant written in blood between the Jewish and Druze communities, with more than 430 having lost their lives serving in the Israeli security forces — a substantial number for a small community of 143,000, which is less than 1.6 percent of Israel’s population.

But despite this sacrifice and the generally positive perception of the Druze among Jewish Israelis — unlike attitudes toward other Arab communities — they are not spared discrimination. Consequently, there are forces among their youth who oppose continued military service.

The recent wave of deadly sectarian clashes that rocked southern Syria exposed the country’s fragility, as the new government proved either incapable or unwilling to impose law and order, leading to a failure to protect the Druze.

The response by the Druze in Israel highlighted another strong tenet in the community’s philosophy: mutual responsibility. In a Pew Research Center survey, nine in 10 said that they had a strong sense of belonging to the Druze community and were proud to be part of it.

Roughly two-thirds expressed that they feel a special responsibility to care for Druze in need around the world.

Over the last week, this manifested in community leaders exerting pressure on the Israeli government to intervene on behalf of the Druze in their clashes with Bedouin militias.

Translating intentions into action, around 1,000 community members — including two members of the Knesset, Afef Abed and Hamad Amar from the right-wing parties Likud and Yisrael Beytenu, respectively — crossed the border from the Israeli-occupied side of the Golan Heights to support their brethren on the other side, expressing outrage over what they described as the massacre of their relatives in Suwaida.

Members of the Druze community pass through a hole in the barbed-wire border fence in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights near Majdal Shams on July 16, 2025, amid deadly violence in the in Syria's Sweida province. (AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Druze community in Israel and the Golan Heights in a video statement, urging them to show restraint and avoid crossing into Syria amid the ongoing clashes.

Instead, Israel took the extreme measure of striking the Syrian Defense Ministry in Damascus and government forces in southern Syria, with Netanyahu announcing that Israel was “working to save our Druze brothers.”

Israel’s immediate reaction to the fall of the Bashar Assad regime in December of last year was to “temporarily” take over additional territory on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights — a move that increasingly looks permanent — and to carry out hundreds of airstrikes on military targets across Syria.

With this in mind, Israel’s use of force again last week raises questions about whether the strikes were solely in defense of the Druze or intended to send a broader message to the government of Ahmed Al-Sharaa about the power balance between the two countries.

Another factor raises suspicion over Israel’s purported commitment to the Druze in Syria. Despite the total loyalty of the Druze to the state of Israel, it does not appear that the Jewish state is equally loyal to them.

For all their years of sacrifice and devotion, the Druze still do not enjoy the same equal rights as the Jewish population. Although attitudes toward the Druze in Israel may be more favorable than toward Palestinian citizens, they are still far from being treated as equals.

This photo taken on July 13, 2006 shows members of the Druze community attending the funeral of 25-year-old First Sergeant Wasim Salah Nazal, a Druze member of the Israeli military, at the Druze village of Yanuh in northern Israel. Despite the sacrifice and devotion shown they have shown to Israel, the Druze still do not enjoy the same equal rights as the Jewish population.  (AFP/File)

Some researchers of the Druze community in Israel suggest that they represent something of an in-between group, comprising “individuals who simultaneously belong to social categories that are often seen as mutually exclusive, while maintaining their distinct group identity.”

The Druze are ethnically Arab and share that Arab identity with the Arab-Palestinian minority in Israel, but, at the same time, identify with the Jewish Israeli state.

In recent years, there has been an awakening among young Druze that, despite their sacrifices, they are institutionally and socially discriminated against as individuals and as a community.

In a protest last year, community leaders stated: “The covenants of blood and life have become superficial and false slogans.” They demanded that budgets allocated to their towns and villages be equal to those of their Jewish neighbors.

This discrimination is visible not only in the underinvestment in their communities, but also in the confiscation of their land for the Judaization of the Galilee and in house demolitions — not to mention having to contend with poor electricity networks, sewage systems, and roads.

Many residents in the 16 Druze towns and villages of Israel find it almost impossible to obtain planning permission, leaving them under constant threat of demolition orders or hefty fines.

Members of the Druze minority and their supporters protest outside the US Embassy in Jerusalem on July 16, 2025, amid clashes between Syrian government forces and Druze armed groups in the southern Syrian city of Sweida. (AP)

A piece of legislation dating back to 2017, the Kaminitz Law, gives authorities the power to issue penalties — such as demolition and stop-work orders, the confiscation of building equipment and vehicles, and arrests — all without referring these cases to the judicial system.

Generally, the law is seen as targeting Arab communities, where building permits are almost impossible to secure, resulting in illegal construction followed by fines and threats of demolition by the government, despite a growing population and need for additional accommodation.

A request to put in place a 5-year plan to support local authorities of Druze communities has not been approved despite protests by community leaders.

The final straw for many Druze in Israel was likely the 2018 Nation State Law, which made many feel that despite their loyalty and sacrifice for the country, they are not rewarded in kind.

The law explicitly states that Jews have a unique right to national self-determination in Israel, and it relegated Arabic from being one of the two official languages, alongside Hebrew, to one with “special status.”

Describing Israel as “the national home of the Jewish people” was effectively a way of defining everyone else as unequal in their political, human, and civil rights.

Despite repeated promises from the Israeli government to promote a Basic Law for the Druze community, which aims to anchor the important status of the Druze community in Israel, this still has not happened.

This has instilled among the community an oft-quoted sentiment: “Druze enter the army as an Israeli and leave as an Arab.”

For the Druze, there is a sense that the community has the rawest of deals — one in which they are loyal and prepared to sacrifice their lives for the country but are still treated as second-class citizens.
 

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Wildfire kills 10 firefighters and rescue workers in Turkiye

Wildfire kills 10 firefighters and rescue workers in Turkiye
Updated 23 July 2025

Wildfire kills 10 firefighters and rescue workers in Turkiye

Wildfire kills 10 firefighters and rescue workers in Turkiye
  • The wind suddenly changed direction, causing the flames to shift rapidly
  • Turkiye has been battling wildfires since June 26

ANKARA: At least 10 firefighters and rescue workers were killed Wednesday and many others injured while battling a wildfire in northwestern Turkiye, the forestry minister Ibrahim Yumakli said.

The five forestry workers and five members of the AKUT rescue organization died while trying to put out the wildfire raging through a forested area of Eskisehir province, Yumakli said. At least 14 other rescuers and forestry workers were hospitalized, he said.

The deaths bring the number of fatalities in wildfires that have flared amid strong winds, high temperatures and dry conditions so far in the country this year to 13.

The minister said the wind suddenly changed direction, causing the flames to shift rapidly and surround the forest workers.

It was not immediately clear what caused the fire.

Turkiye has been battling wildfires since June 26.

An elderly man and two forestry workers were killed in a wildfire that raged near the town of Odemis, in Izmir province, earlier this month.