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Israelis Say Palestinian Waste Fires Are "Killing Us Slowly"

(Jerusalem Post) Tzvi Joffre - Israelis living in Judea and Samaria told the Knesset Interior Affairs Committee on Monday that illegal Palestinian waste fires are "killing us slowly." "Our house is closed all the time. My children have an aggravation of hives and tingling in the throat. The neighbors' children have asthma," said Reut Schechter from the community of Kedem Arava. "We have been suffering from these fires since our first day, and recently it has increased to the extent that there are fires all day long. The fires can be for days in a row....The suffering is daily - you cannot play outside, do sports or go on a walk....We are simply being killed." MK Yitzhak Kreuzer told the committee, "Illegal burning of waste is one of the main causes of carcinogenic air pollution in Israel and harms the health and quality of life of millions of residents." Former director-general of the Environmental Protection Ministry Galit Cohen said in January 2023 that the ministry offered the Palestinian Authority thousands of shekels to gather the waste from 72 villages, but the PA had refused to accept the funds. A 2021 report by the ministry found that illegal waste fires caused 43% of the air pollution in Israel.
2023-02-23 00:00:00
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