Union for Justice: Israel Has Turned Some Palestinian Areas into Sites for the Collection and Recycling of Its Hazardous Waste
25/12/2025 – Union for Justice
The Union for Justice stated that Israeli occupation authorities have transformed several Palestinian areas in the West Bank into sites for the disposal and recycling of hazardous and toxic industrial waste generated by Israeli factories.
The organization explained that the majority of this solid and hazardous waste—originating from Israeli settlements, factories, and hospitals inside Israel—is collected at 15 sites established by the occupation across the West Bank over recent years. These include six sites in the towns of Ni‘lin and Rantis west of Ramallah, and the towns of Idhna, Beit ‘Awwa, Deir Samet, and Al-Koum in the Hebron governorate.
The Union further noted that last month the occupation authorities issued eviction orders to dozens of Jerusalemite families in the Qalandiya area near Jerusalem, as a preliminary step toward demolishing their homes under the pretext of constructing a waste-treatment facility on Palestinian land.
According to the Union for Justice, Israel either buries and disposes of this waste in Palestinian areas or, in other cases, recycles and melts it before transporting it back into Israel, as disposal costs inside Israel are significantly higher.
While Israel enforces strict environmental standards within its own borders, it allows Israeli settlements in the West Bank to operate waste-treatment facilities under far less stringent regulations, making their operation cheaper and less costly.
Hazardous and Diverse Waste
According to the Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority, waste transferred from Israel is diverse and includes some of the most dangerous types, notably: electronic waste, chemical residues, medical waste, vehicle tires, polystyrene panels, paint containers, nylon and plastic materials, fiberglass panels, construction and demolition debris, rock wool, and electrical cables.
A number of Israeli companies are involved in transporting and processing this hazardous waste from inside Israel to Palestinian areas. Among the most prominent are Eco Medical, operating in the Ma‘aleh Ephraim industrial zone east of the village of Duma south of Nablus, which specializes in treating medical waste from Israeli hospitals and laboratories—estimated at around 3,300 tons annually—and EMS, operating in the Shilo industrial zone east of Ramallah, responsible for recycling electronic waste and batteries and treating heavy metals. EMS is the only facility officially licensed in Israel to recycle electronic batteries.
Electronic Waste
Electronic waste is among the most dangerous types smuggled from Israel into the West Bank. Between 57,000 and 64,000 tons are smuggled annually, then burned to extract valuable metals such as copper. This process causes severe pollution, releasing hazardous pollutants including dioxins, fine particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, and carbon monoxide.
The Union for Justice emphasized that this illegally transferred Israeli waste has serious repercussions for Palestinian health, directly affecting the respiratory system due to toxic gas emissions, increasing heart disease, and raising the risk of various cancers.
These solid and gaseous wastes also devastate agricultural land and contaminate soil and groundwater, in addition to causing severe harm to Palestinian livestock and plant life, as well as noise pollution resulting from Israeli truck traffic.
Health and economic losses resulting from air pollution caused by waste burning in the West Bank are estimated at 9.1 billion shekels between 2023 and 2030. In 2022 alone, health and economic costs were estimated at between 880 million and 1.3 billion shekels, including agricultural production losses, healthcare expenditures, and environmental damage.
Sewage Pollution
In addition to solid waste, Palestinian villages—particularly those near Israeli settlements—are affected by untreated wastewater discharged from these settlements, which damages crops and vegetation and contaminates both groundwater and surface water.
Examples include wastewater from the settlement of ‘Ets Ephraim flowing into Palestinian lands in the village of Sanniriya in the Qalqilya governorate, and wastewater from the settlement of Ibei HaNahal discharged into Palestinian lands in the village of Kisan east of Bethlehem.
A Striking Paradox
Despite the extensive harm caused by Israel’s transformation of Palestinian areas into dumping grounds for hazardous waste, the occupation paradoxically claims that Palestinians are responsible for air pollution in Israeli areas.
Last month, Israeli Minister of Environmental Protection Idit Silman announced the imposition of a 40 million shekel fine on the Palestinian Authority, alleging environmental and air pollution caused by random waste dumps in the West Bank. Last week, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to deduct funds from Palestinian revenues unless what he described as “waste being burned in the West Bank” was removed, announcing the preparation of a “national emergency plan” to address the issue.
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