Kareem Shaheen| The Daily Star BARJA, Lebanon: “Stop belittling our minds: It will not pass,” read the sign in the town’s central square. In the distance, a gigantic plume of gray smoke was belched out of the sand factory that dominates Barja’s skyline, in nearby Sibline. The Chouf town, home to about 55,000 residents, can […]

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The Daily Star BEIRUT: Health Minister Wael Abu Faour announced Wednesday that all Lebanese hospitals have a one-month deadline to properly dispose of hazardous medical waste, otherwise violating hospitals would be liable to closure. After a meeting with Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk Wednesday, Abu Faour announced that Lebanon’s 19 private and 9 public hospitals would […]

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Al Arabiya Saturday, 20 December 2014 The U.N. General Assembly on Friday has adopted a resolution urging Israel to pay Lebanon over $850 million in damages for causing an “environmental disaster” during the July 2006 war. As many as 170 countries voted in favor of the resolution, three abstained, and six countries: Israel, the United […]

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NEW YORK, December 20, 2014 – (WAFA) – The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) overwhelmingly adopted Friday a resolution on permanent Palestinian sovereignty in the occupied Palestinian Territory (oPT) over their natural resources. The Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the […]

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Jordan Times Petra | Dec 21, 2014 | 22:51 AMMAN — The Rafah Party on Sunday criticised the government’s plans to buy gas from Israel, commending the Lower House’s stance against the deal. Party Secretary General Mohammad Shomali called on the government to respect the House’s recommendation in shelving the planned gas deal. http://jordantimes.com/rafah-party-criticises-projected-israeli-gas-deal ——————————– […]

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Petra | Dec 21, 2014 ABU DHABI — Energy Minister Mohammad Hamed said on Sunday that the government is facing problems in curbing poverty and unemployment due to the high energy bill. Delivering a speech at the opening of the 10th Arab Energy Conference in Abu Dhabi, Hamed said Jordan imports 97 per cent of […]

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The Netanyahu government gave its blessing to the birth of the most powerful, threatening monopoly in Israel’s history. Haaretz Editorial | Dec. 22, 2014 One of the most serious failures of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s third government was its regulatory neglect of the natural gas market, which paved the way for the growth and establishment […]

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BEIRUT: Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has called for an inquiry as to why Washington halted its mission to resolve the dispute between Israel and Lebanon over the exclusive economic zone. Berri, according to visitors, has tasked Lebanon’s Ambassador to Washington Antoine Shedid to find out why Amos Hochstein, U.S. deputy assistant secretary for energy diplomacy, […]

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Bloomberg report quotes US special energy envoy to Mideast saying Israel’s gas could help overcome diplomatic tensions between Israel and Arab nations. 12.19.14 Israel will export natural gas to Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, a top US official told Bloomberg, claiming political obstacles preventing the export deals will be overcome. “We have a remarkable situation where […]

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National network of detection sensors not set up due to budget shortfall. By Zafrir Rinat | Dec. 22, 2014 The Environmental Protection Ministry has begun setting up a national system for locating and warning about incidents involving hazardous materials. The Defense Ministry assisted in the project, but so far the Finance Ministry has not approved […]

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BEIRUT: Lebanese municipalities lack a waste management strategy to organize trash in their districts, prompting some to collect and dump their waste in other regions, Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk said Saturday. “Some municipalities collect their waste and throw them in other districts randomly and I have proof of that,” Machnouk told a local television station. […]

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Mazin Sidahmed| The Daily Star BEIRUT: The government may handle Lebanon’s growing solid waste problem by installing incinerators across the country, but environmentalists warn this could create more problems than it solves. The government decided on Oct. 30 to open a tender for companies to treat solid waste. The Cabinet is scheduled to be briefed […]

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Water could be the main factor in even bloodier conflicts than those we have become accustomed to. But it doesn’t have to be that way: Water could also be a source of security, prosperity and peace. By Netta Ahituv || 29.11.14 || Source: Haaretz We should not let ourselves be fooled by the rainstorm that […]

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The Last Train, Thomas Friedman, Source: New York Times, Oct. 25, 2014 WHEN Secretary of State John Kerry began his high-energy effort to forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace, I argued that it was the last train for a two-state solution. If it didn’t work, it would mean that the top-down, diplomatically constructed two-state concept was over […]

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Green energy activists gathered there for a convention this week as crude oil was gushing out of a broken pipeline nearby. By Zafrir Rinat | Dec. 11, 2014 The Sixth Annual Eilat-Eilot Green Energy Conference took place in Eilat earlier this week – and its timing this year couldn’t have been more symbolic. Just outside […]

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The recent oil spill in the Arava desert is a costly reminder of the need to reduce the country’s dependence on oil. Haaretz Editorial | Dec. 7, 2014 Last week’s oil spill in a southern Arava nature reserve is not the first case of serious environmental damage caused by the oil pipeline, and if those […]

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The huge spill near Eilat is only one of many problems around the country, the Water Authority says. By Zafrir Rinat | Dec. 7, 2014 Israel’s fuel-pollution problem has been similar over the past decade as it is now in the area racked by an oil spill, Water Authority data show. Over the past decade […]

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By NIV ELIS, YONAH JEREMY BOB 12/10/2014 The pipeline was a joint project between Iran and Israel in 1968, but the Islamic Revolution of 1978-1979 crushed the alliance and cooperation. Israel may owe Iran $100 million over the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline, which made headlines last week when a breach spilled millions of liters of oil into […]

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By LIAT COLLINS 12/11/2014 When I hear words like “wounds” and “scars” my first association is not with quarries, but following a tour to the Machtesh Ramon area in the South last week, they no longer seem out of place. The Jerusalem Press Club trip was organized by the Quarry Rehabilitation Fund, which operates under […]

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Residents of southern Israel didn’t even know a pipeline was under their feet for 46 years – until it exploded. Haaretz Editorial | Dec. 9, 2014 Residents of Eilat and the surrounding area didn’t know a pipeline had run through their city for the last 46 years – one that could cause the heavy stench […]

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