ABSTRACT
The 2026 West-Asian conflict involving the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Iran, Israel, and the United States has caused significant environmental harm in a region already facing ecological stress. Beginning with strikes on 28th February 2026, the conflict quickly escalated and led to more than 300 reported environmental incidents across twelve countries, including Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, Cyprus, Israel, and Azerbaijan Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS, 2024). Within just three weeks, the scale of environmental damage exceeded that of earlier Gulf conflicts in 1991 and 2003, particularly the 1991 Gulf War oil spill, which has been extensively documented in environmental assessments by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP, 2003).
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