Gazans Face Asbestos-Related Diseases After Israeli Invasion
Airborne asbestos is the most dangerous because these tiny cancer-causing fibers are easily inhaled or swallowed. Decades later, the fibers may cause cancer. Those living in or passing through Gaza are potentially heavily exposed to asbestos because buildings there have been damaged or destroyed by Israeli military action.
Gaza is a Palestinian territory on Israel’s southwest border. Gaza also borders Egypt and has been home to generations of people for about 4,000 years. Before the area became a war zone, about 2.3 million people lived there.
Attack and Counter-Attack
Last October, the militant Palestinian group that controlled Gaza, Hamas, invaded Israel and killed about 1,400 people and kidnapped about another 250. The Israeli military response has destroyed about 60% of the area’s buildings, according to NPR, which states some areas have seen more destruction than others.
Israel states its goals are to destroy Hamas, find and free those being held hostage. Israel’s efforts have left buildings leveled and in tatters. Many of them contained asbestos before Israel’s invasion. Their sudden, explosive destruction has created an estimated 800,000 tons of asbestos-contaminated debris, reports Al Jazeera.
800,000 Tons of Asbestos Contaminated Debris Out in the Open
This is debris that people live in, walk on, and around. It’s piled up in the open, where anyone passing by, whether they’re international relief workers, Palestinian children, or Israeli soldiers, inhale and swallow asbestos fibers. The fibers sent into the air during the past year could cause the disability and death of those walking Gaza’s streets today decades from now.
The situation is comparable to Manhattan after the 9/11 attack in 2001 by terrorists brought down the World Trade Center Towers, pulverizing them and sending toxic dust into the air. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate about 400,000 people were exposed to toxic contaminants and other dangers.
The World Trade Center Health Program states that of the 110,198 survivors and first responders who came to the site during and after the attack, at least 4,343 have died from related illnesses compared to the 2,974 people who were killed during the incident.
In 2009, the United Nations Environment Programme stated that one of the most hazardous asbestos types (blue asbestos or crocidolite) was found in Gaza’s buildings, sheds, sewage pipes, treatment stations, and livestock facilities. Many of them have been destroyed.
Given how easily asbestos fibers blow in the wind and the fact there’s no known, safe level of exposure, those trapped and fighting in Gaza will be the area’s future asbestos victims.
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