The figure also includes some 50,000 tons of asbestos, classified as a carcinogen, and some 100,000 tons of unexploded ordnance and explosives, it warned in a statement.

It announced that the Israeli aggression destroyed 80% of the territory’s water and sanitation systems, causing an unprecedented deterioration of the environmental infrastructure.

The Authority explained that, in addition to the debris, the war forced the creation of unregulated landfills and destroyed waste treatment plants.

This situation led to a massive leak of chemicals, fuel, and asbestos into the soil and surface waters, a problem that poses a very serious environmental and health threat to residents, it stressed.

In statements to the Safa news agency, expert Mohammed Musleh denounced the millions of tons of waste scattered throughout the site.

Musleh estimated that the danger lies in the possibility of the waste seeping into the groundwater, which would have disastrous effects on human health and the environment.

He explained that inhaling large quantities of asbestos causes serious illnesses, such as pulmonary fibrosis, lung cancer, and laryngeal cancer.

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