Photo: Police Spokesperson
The police announce that Operation “Clean Air” in Judea and Samaria started today (Tuesday). Shi District, the Environmental Protection Section and the Civil Administration worked together to eradicate the phenomenon of air pollution and as part of it, 35 waste trucks were confiscated, and 34 suspects were detained for questioning after they planned to spill their contents throughout Judea and Samaria. This is an unprecedented operation focused on environmental crimes.
The arrests and confiscations were made after headquarters work that lasted several months. The police said that in recent months, a large number of complaints have been received from residents and local authorities against pirate facilities operating 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 harm to residents. After receiving the complaints and under the guidance of the district commander, Superintendent Uzi Levy and the head of the Civil Administration, Lt. Col. Fars 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.
When the investigation turned from covert to open, the police detectives caught “red handed” 35 trucks carrying waste towards the same sites. The trucks were confiscated by the members of the supervision unit in the Civil Administration and the drivers were taken for questioning. As part of the investigation, 159 investigation files have been opened so far. At the end of the initial investigation, the investigators seized the trucks in order to confiscate them, and criminal proceedings were opened against some of the drivers.
At the same time, the people of the Civil Administration are working hard to close those landfills immediately and for additional enforcement operations against the criminals together with the Shi’a district, 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.
The district commander, Superintendent Uzi Levy, stated in his words: “This is a very important operation aimed at preserving the health of those living in Judea and Samaria. The Israel Police will continue to work together with the other bodies and the civil administration in order to optimally enforce crimes of this type and will work to bring those criminals to justice.”
The head of the Civil Administration, Lt. Col. Fars Atila, added 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 residents’ health.”