Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared on Thursday that illegal waste fires in the West Bank pose a threat to national security, and announced a new national emergency plan to address the phenomenon after a meeting with local authority heads.

The plan, led jointly by the defense and finance ministries, along with security and enforcement agencies and the heads of the local authorities most affected by the waste fires, will include aggressive enforcement to counter the fires, administrative seizures of Palestinian waste trucks, large-scale waste removal, and the establishment of a new waste disposal site in the central West Bank, the Defense Ministry said in an announcement.

The costs associated with the plan will be transferred to the Palestinian Authority, according to Smotrich.

The decision to implement new measures to tackle the phenomenon came after the attendees at Thursday’s meeting were presented with a “worrying picture” indicating that the damaging impact of the waste fires was “much more widespread and serious” than previously believed, the Defense Ministry said.

The practice of burning waste is harmful to both the environment and the people in the vicinity due to the toxic fumes and pollutants released in the process.

Thursday’s announcement came days after the Health Ministry warned residents of eastern Shoham, in central Israel, to stay indoors and turn off air conditioners at certain hours due to severe air pollution caused by illegal waste burnings in the West Bank.

Authorities stated that a mobile air-quality monitor installed earlier this month by the Environmental Protection Ministry had detected levels of benzene and other pollutants, including PM2.5,........

© The Times of Israel