Dozens of liters of hydraulic oil leaked into the Red Sea from a ship docked at an Israel Navy base on the Red Sea coast of Eilat on Thursday.
Officials said the Navy was working with the Ministry of Environmental Protection to stop the spread of oil, which had spread beyond the base’s boundaries.
It was not immediately clear what caused the oil spill from the missile-carrier ship. The ministry announced that it was launching an investigation into the matter.
It initially said hundreds of liters of oil had leaked from the ship, but later updated it to “several dozen liters”. It also said that the reason for the leak was dealt with without providing details.
Thursday’s incident follows another oil spill earlier this year at the same Elliott Navy base, which is still being investigated.
The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
Maya Yakovs, head of the Zalul environmental association, called for “comprehensive environmental reform in the IDF, one of the country’s biggest polluters.”
Yakovs said, “Unless environmental pollution prevention laws are taken seriously, and significant enforcement and penalties are in place, we will see more and more violations of sensitive areas, such as Elliot’s coral reefs, Yakovs.” he said.
“In the era of climate crisis, the time has come for all kinds of pollutants that times have changed and nature should not be polluted.”
