In an extensive operation by the Israeli police and the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria, an operation to combat the illegal burning of polluting waste that has been ignored by the Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria is taking place. Dozens of trucks were located Tuesday smuggling garbage from Arab villages into the Palestinian Authority territories to the burning sites, which causes dangerous pollution from which Arab and Jewish residents suffer alike.

After much administration work that lasted several months, a large-scale operation was conducted in which 34 suspects were detained and 35 waste trucks were confiscated, which planned to dump their contents throughout Judea and Samaria. In recent months, a large number of complaints have been received from residents and local authorities against pirate installations that operate as illegal waste dumps. Those landfills cause heavy air pollution for the residents of the area, both Israelis and Palestinians, which greatly affects the quality of life in the area.

From the reports, it appears that garbage trucks from different parts of the country arrive at those landfills in order to dump the contents of the truck in an uncontrolled and unsupervised manner. It also appears that some of those landfills burn the same waste, which increases air pollution and harms residents.

Israel among lowest air polluters in western Asia, Swiss research finds
Out of all the countries in the region, Israel ranked just behind the country of Georgia in terms of air pollution quality and dominated the least populated regional cities list.https://t.co/Y7g6ajSs3Z

— Jay Sadian (@DrJayinLA) March 14, 2023

After receiving the complaints and under the guidance of the district commander, Superintendent Uzi Levy, and the head of the Civil Administration, Lt. Col. Fares Atila, the units went on Operation "Clean Air" in the framework of which police forces and the Civil Administration operated covertly in order to gather evidence against the owners of the landfills and against the owners of the trucks transporting the waste.

Turning the investigation from covert to full-scale, the police detectives caught 35 trucks carrying waste toward the same sites red-handed. The trucks were confiscated by the members of the inspection unit in the Civil Administration and the drivers were taken for further questioning.

With every passsing day, the environmental damage & pollution in Judea & Samaria only get worse.

Watch this short video taken by Menash, our field coordinator, who visited an illegal garbage dump next to Birzeit >> pic.twitter.com/AqHaswhvFN

— Regavim (@RegavimEng) November 23, 2022

At the same time, the Civil Administration is working hard to close those landfills immediately and for additional enforcement operations against the criminals together with local authorities, all this for the sake of preserving the health and quality of life of all the residents of Judea and Samaria. Since the beginning of the year, that cooperation has yielded dozens of enforcement activities that prove that this issue is at the top of the Civil Administration's list of priorities.

Making @GretaThunberg Proud:

Israel's new government has ambitious plans to protect the environment and eliminate pollution.

From protecting the sea to stopping the burning of garbage in Palestinian towns in Judea & Samaria, the plans are wide-ranging.https://t.co/JTq4KYxs7M

— The Judean (@TheJudean) January 2, 2023

The head of the Civil Administration, Lt. Col. Fares Atila, said today that "I congratulate all the enforcement branches for the successful enforcement operation, and I am confident that this operation will not be the last. There are no compromises in the fight against air pollution in Judea and Samaria and therefore we, all the members of the organization, we will continue to act day and night against any factor that harms the health of the residents.”