Disaster Involving Spill of Dozens to Hundreds of Tons of Oil from a Ship in the Mediterranean Causes Israel to Face the Worst Environmental Disaster in Its History

Israel Struggles to Clean Beaches After Disaster Involving Spill of Dozens to Hundreds of Tons of Oil Leaked from a Ship in the Mediterranean

Israel is struggling to clean the black tar that washed up on its beaches after an oil spill reportedly from an offshore ship. Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection called the spill “one of the most serious ecological disasters” in the country’s history. Officials said that cleanup could take months or even years.

See Also

• Oil and Gas Spill at Trident Energy’s P-65 Platform in Campos
• Crude Oil Spill Hits 99 Locations on the Northeast Coast
• Another Major Oil Spill Hits the Sea of Venezuela
• 204,000 Job Openings for Candidates with Elementary and High School Education to Work on the 2021 Census by IBGE Across Brazil

The oil has stained nearly 160 kilometers of Israel’s coastline, devastating nature and wildlife, and the damage could be long-lasting. Authorities have advised people not to use the beaches for bathing along their Mediterranean coast while thousands of workers and volunteers were working to clean up a massive tar slick.

Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection warned that the oil spill has not yet been contained, as the tar continues to wash up on the country’s shores. “Out of the 190 kilometers of beach in Israel, 170 kilometers have been affected by the ecological disaster,” the authority said on its Facebook page on Sunday. “The event is not over, and the tar continues to emit onto the beaches.”

Authorities are investigating the source of the oil spill, but according to estimates from the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the tar resulted from “dozens to hundreds of tons” of oil being discharged from an offshore ship.

Despite the suspicions, the government is still uncertain about the source of the spill. Solving the mystery may be key to ensuring that more pollution does not wash onto the shores of Israel and its neighbors.

Minister Wants to Punish Those Responsible

Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel said that her “moral obligation to the public is to locate those responsible for the event,” according to the statement.

“We have the option of suing the insurance company of the ship responsible for the pollution, and we will do everything to locate it,” she said.

In a separate statement posted on her Twitter account, Gamliel said, “We are making every effort to find those responsible for the disaster, and we will bring a proposal for resolutions to rehabilitate the environment to the government’s approval tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, the Images Below Show the Dramatic Cleanup of the Oil Spill on Israel’s Beaches