Civil Administration demolishes 4 garbage-burning sites

‘Stay indoors’: Health Ministry tells central town to shelter due to toxic waste fires

In rare move, ministry instructs some Shoham residents to close windows, turn off air-conditioning to protect themselves from pollution from illegal West Bank fires

The Health Ministry has warned people living in the easternmost neighborhood of Shoham in central Israel to stay inside and keep their air conditioners switched off daily from early evening until morning, due to severe air pollution arising from illegal waste fires in the West Bank.

Wednesday saw the Civil Administration say it had demolished and sealed off four garbage-burning sites that, together, had covered 45 dunams (10 acres) and caused air pollution across central Israel.

Responding to a stream of complaints about air pollution and unpleasant odors from residents of Shoham and nearby communities, the Health Ministry said Monday that a mobile monitor installed earlier this month by the Environmental Protection Ministry had detected levels of benzene and PM2.5 that exceeded the limits allowed by the Clean Air Act.

Benzene is known to cause cancer. PM2.5 refers to small pollution particles, less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, that penetrate the lungs and can cause or aggravate respiratory problems.

In its warning to residents of the Hadarim neighborhood in Shoham, the Health Ministry explained that “uncontrolled burning of waste, mainly plastic and electronic products” could release additional harmful substances such as heavy metals, which were “toxic and carcinogenic.”

Electronic waste is illegally smuggled into the West Bank for burning by people who want to avoid landfill fees in Israel and profit from the sale of metals extracted by melting the plastic that surrounds them.

A 2019 study found a statistical correlation between lymphoma cancer in children from Palestinian villages in the southwestern area of Mount Hebron and the location of sites for the dismantling and burning of electronic waste.

A graph from the Environmental Protection Ministry’s regularly updated air quality monitoring site shows benzene levels reaching 20 micrograms per cubic meter between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. on Monday, which is far above the permitted level of 3.9 micrograms per cubic meter.

The Health Ministry admitted that it was powerless to act until the relevant authorities moved to stop the fires. Among these are Israel’s Civil Administration in the West Bank, the IDF, the fire service and the police.

On Wednesday, the Civil Administration said it had conducted a broad enforcement operation to crack down on illegal garbage fires, and in the process had destroyed and sealed off four Palestinian trash fire sites that had covered 45 dunams (11 acres).

The fires had caused pollution in Shoham, Harish, Pardes Hana, and Modiin, the army said.

“We emphasize that the IDF, via the Civil Administration, is using all the tools at its disposal, including ambushes against trucks and trash incinerators, alongside the imposition of civilian sanctions, against those causing air pollution,” it said in a statement.

The IDF “will continue to operate until the phenomenon ends,” it said.

The issue of illegal waste-burning in the West Bank, which has gone on for 20 years, has become a hot-button issue over recent months, with rising complaints from the length of the Green Line, and even from as far away as Tel Aviv.

Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, who describes the problem as “environmental terror,” headed an interministerial committee on the matter together with the Defense Ministry, which is supposed to report in January.

To date, her proposals have not been formally approved by the Defense Ministry, while the Finance Ministry has not agreed to her funding request.

The various bodies involved with the issue are set to meet at the Defense Ministry on Thursday.

Yaniv Bleicher, who heads Citizens for Clean Air, said the unusual Health Ministry warning was “further evidence of the state’s ongoing failure to address waste fires, which have been harming the health of Israeli residents for years.”

He went on, “Despite our repeated demands, not a single shekel was allocated in the state budget approved by the government to address waste fires. The meaning is clear: the public will continue to pay with its health for the state’s failures. It is not too late to make amends. We call for the necessary changes to be made to the budget law before it is put to a vote in the Knesset.”

In a report last year, the state comptroller accused the Civil Administration of failing for years to establish a functioning waste infrastructure in the West Bank. Just two landfill sites serve the entire West Bank: one in the north near Jenin and the other in the south, near Bethlehem. The comptroller noted that many Palestinian municipalities face high costs to transport their waste great distances to the nearest landfill site, leading many to burn it instead.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.