Scientists say Israel's destruction of Gaza's sewage infrastructure during its military campaign has likely contributed to a severe algae bloom in the Mediterranean Sea. The bloom, fed in part by untreated sewage flooding into coastal waters, has knocked out five of Israel's six desalination plants (large facilities that convert seawater into drinking water, which arid Israel depends on heavily). The crisis highlights a cascading consequence of wartime environmental damage, with a country now facing acute water shortages partly linked to its own destruction of a neighbour's civilian infrastructure.