Scientists do not know the exact reasons for the unusual algal bloom, which undoubtedly began in the Nile Delta before moving northward to Israel's Mediterranean coast. It is likely that it intensified due to the large amounts of raw sewage being discharged into the Mediterranean from Gaza, the result of the Israeli military's destruction of sewage treatment plants and sewage pipes in the Strip during the war.
Since the cease-fire went into effect in October 2025, Israel has refused to let humanitarian organizations bring into the Strip the mechanical equipment, generators, pipes and electrical systems needed to restore the operation of Gaza's treatment plants. The price is being paid by not only the Strip's residents, who live in a polluted, hazardous environment, but also Israel. It is absurd to think that the country would not be affected by the situation in which the Gazan population – approximately 2 million people – lives amid rubble as raw sewage flows into the sea. As with every issue, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government did not think ahead, and did not understand the implications of the destruction that the state inflicted on the Strip.