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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.”


Israeli lawmakers pass symbolic motion on West Bank annexation

Israeli lawmakers pass symbolic motion on West Bank annexation
Updated 10 sec ago

Israeli lawmakers pass symbolic motion on West Bank annexation

Israeli lawmakers pass symbolic motion on West Bank annexation
  • The bill was passed by a vote of 71 to 13, with 36 other lawmakers absent in the Knesset
  • Some 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the occupied West Bank, which is home to around three million Palestinians

JERUSALEM: More than 70 Israeli lawmakers passed a motion on Wednesday urging the government to impose sovereignty over the West Bank, though the symbolic move does not affect the Palestinian territory’s legal status.
The non-binding vote in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, was backed by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, as well as some opposition lawmakers.
They said that annexing the West Bank “will strengthen the state of Israel, its security and prevent any questioning of the fundamental right of the Jewish people to peace and security in their homeland.”
“Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria” — the name Israel uses for the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967 — was “an integral part of the realization of Zionism and the national vision of the Jewish people,” the text stated.
It passed by a vote of 71 to 13, with 36 other lawmakers absent.
Hussein Al-Sheikh, deputy to Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas, said the motion was “a direct assault on the rights of the Palestinian people” that “undermines the prospects for peace, stability and the two-state solution.”
“These unilateral Israeli actions blatantly violate international law and the ongoing international consensus regarding the status of the Palestinian territories, including the West Bank,” he wrote on X.
Some 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, which is home to around three million Palestinians.
Israeli settlement there is regularly condemned by the UN and is considered illegal under international law.
It is seen as one of the main obstacles — along with ongoing violence between the two sides — to a lasting peace agreement through the creation of a viable Palestinian state with authority over the West Bank and Gaza Strip.


Israeli military says eight soldiers wounded in car-ramming attack

Israeli military says eight soldiers wounded in car-ramming attack
Updated 24 July 2025

Israeli military says eight soldiers wounded in car-ramming attack

Israeli military says eight soldiers wounded in car-ramming attack
  • There has been a spate of violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank since the start of the war against Hamas in Gaza

KFAR YONA: The Israeli military said eight soldiers were wounded on Thursday when a driver deliberately rammed his car into a bus stop in what police called a “terror attack.”
The army said two soldiers were “moderately injured” and six “lightly injured” in the attack at the Beit Lid junction near Kfar Yona in central Israel.
“The soldiers were evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment and their families have been notified,” it said in a statement.
There has been a spate of violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank since the start of the war against Hamas in Gaza, triggered by the Palestinian militants’ attack on October 7, 2023.
A teenager died in March this year when police said a car driven by a Palestinian man deliberately plowed into civilians at a bus stop in northern Israel.
One witness to Thursday’s ramming said the driver cut her off the road near Kfar Yona, then “turned his wheel to the right, full gas, as fast as he could, and hit as many people as he could.”
Kineret Hanuka, 45, told AFP: “I saw only blood and heard them screaming: ‘It hurts!’... It was so hard for me to see this.”
Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) first responders said they received a report at 9:25 am (0625 GMT) that a vehicle had crashed into a bus stop near Kfar Yona.
They said that the wounded had chest, limb and head injuries.
Israeli police spokesman Dedan Elsdunne described the incident as a “terror attack, where a terrorist rammed his vehicle into individuals who were standing here waiting to catch the bus.”
“He (the attacker) then attempted to flee. He abandoned his vehicle and fled from that location. We had large police forces who immediately arrived here, set up a perimeter so that we can locate this individual.”
The car was later recovered and the driver is being hunted using helicopters, motorbikes and a specialist dog unit, police added.
The site of the crash was cordoned off as forensic investigators combed the scene, AFP journalists reported.
In Israel, at least 32 people, including soldiers, have died in attacks by Palestinians since the start of the Gaza war, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
In the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, at least 960 Palestinians, including many fighters but also civilians, have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers, according to Palestinian Authority figures.
At the same time, at least 36 Israelis, including civilians and soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, Israeli figures showed.


Blast in Syria’s Idlib kills two, injures 70, state media say

Blast in Syria’s Idlib kills two, injures 70, state media say
Updated 47 min 46 sec ago

Blast in Syria’s Idlib kills two, injures 70, state media say

Blast in Syria’s Idlib kills two, injures 70, state media say
  • Civil defense teams rushed to the scene of a blast of unknown causes in Maarrat Misrin

DUBAI: Two people were killed and at least 70 injured in an explosion in the Idlib countryside of northwestern Syria, the state news agency SANA said on Thursday.

Raed Al-Sale, Syria’s minister of emergency and disaster management, said in a post on X that civil defense teams rushed to the scene of a blast of unknown causes in the town of Maarrat Misrin in the northern Idlib countryside.

He said the teams were carrying out evacuation and rescue operations despite ongoing secondary blasts that were hindering the response.

No final toll of casualties had been confirmed, he added, urging residents to avoid the site for their own safety as teams continued to work under dangerous and complex conditions.


Greece to send salvage ship to Red Sea after latest Houthi attacks

Greece to send salvage ship to Red Sea after latest Houthi attacks
Updated 24 July 2025

Greece to send salvage ship to Red Sea after latest Houthi attacks

Greece to send salvage ship to Red Sea after latest Houthi attacks
  • Shipping Minister Vassilis Kikilias said the salvage vessel — called Giant and provided by the Hellenic Association of Tugboat Owners — would “support, protect and assist Greek-owned vessels and Greek

ATHENS: Greece will deploy a salvage vessel in the Red Sea to assist in maritime accidents and protect seafarers and global shipping, the shipping minister said on Thursday, following attacks on two Greek vessels by Yemen’s Houthi militants this month.
Two Liberia-flagged, Greek-operated cargo ships, Magic Seas and Eternity C, sank off Yemen after repeated attacks by the Iran-aligned militant group.
The strikes on the two vessels marked a resumption of attacks on shipping by the Houthis, who struck more than 100 ships between November 2023 and December 2024 in what they said was a show of solidarity with the Palestinians in the war in Gaza.
Shipping Minister Vassilis Kikilias said the salvage vessel — called Giant and provided by the Hellenic Association of Tugboat Owners — would “support, protect and assist Greek-owned vessels and Greek seafarers.”
All of the crew members from the Magic Seas were rescued by a passing ship.
The crew of the Eternity C had to abandon the ship. Ten were rescued by a privately led mission, but five more are feared dead and the Houthis are believed to be holding another 10 crew members, maritime security sources have said.
Aspides, the European Union naval mission protecting shipping in the Red Sea, did not have assets in the area at the time of the incidents.
Giant is manned by a specialist crew of 14 Greek sailors, has four engines with 16,000 horsepower, and can sail in the most adverse weather conditions, the Shipping Ministry said.
It can participate in search and rescue operations, with accommodation for 40 people, help prevent marine pollution and also has firefighting capacity.


South Sudan faces legal battle in London amid oil debt crisis, political turmoil

South Sudan faces legal battle in London amid oil debt crisis, political turmoil
Updated 24 July 2025

South Sudan faces legal battle in London amid oil debt crisis, political turmoil

South Sudan faces legal battle in London amid oil debt crisis, political turmoil
  • South Sudan has endured two civil wars in the past 15 years and is grappling with increased debt and a shaky peace deal

LONDON: Trading house BB Energy has filed a case against South Sudan in London for failing to deliver oil owed under a pre-payment deal, according to court filings and a company spokesperson.
One of the poorest countries in the world, South Sudan has endured two civil wars in the past 15 years and is grappling with increased debt and a shaky peace deal. In March, the government placed its petroleum minister, as well as other officials, under house arrest.
BB Energy DMCC filed the case last month, court records showed. A company spokesperson told Reuters the action was necessary to preserve BB Energy's rights under a contract with the Ministry of Petroleum.
"As yet, they have defaulted on delivery," the spokesperson said. "We are currently in the process of serving formal proceedings; however we are always looking to find an amicable solution, especially considering our long-term interests in the country."
Officials in South Sudan did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case.
Oil trader Vitol also filed a case against South Sudan in London in May, but said it had since resolved the issue. Sources told Reuters that case related to a single cancelled oil cargo.
In May, a London court ordered South Sudan to pay Afreximbank $657 million over defaulted loans. The IMF pegged South Sudan's total public debt at $3.7 billion as of 2023, with $550 million of the total owed to oil companies.
At its peak before the civil war, South Sudan's crude oil production stood at 350,000 to 400,000 barrels per day, but that tumbled to just 72,000 bpd last year, according to OPEC data, after a damaged oil pipeline halted exports.
The pipeline resumed operations in June, and the country pumped 138,000 bpd that month.