Israel amends security rules to allow seizure of vehicles used in West Bank waste fires

Defense Minister Israel Katz’s office says the government has begun implementing a new emergency plan against illegal waste fires in the West Bank — introduced last month — with the Justice Ministry approving an immediate amendment to the security order that will allow the seizure and confiscation of vehicles and equipment used in the burnings.

The move follows a decision by Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to classify the phenomenon as a threat to national security, shifting it from a civilian-environmental issue to a national security matter. Under the amended order, authorities will be able to confiscate waste trucks, vehicles used for arson and illegal dumping, and related equipment.

According to Katz’s office, IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth is expected to sign the order in the coming days, with enforcement set to begin “immediately.”

The move is said to complement a series of additional directives, including aggressive inter-agency enforcement, broad allocation of resources to address fires and waste removal, and the use of expanded legal powers to create deterrence and cut off the economic incentive for the criminal activity.

“The decision we made less than a month ago to define waste-burning fires as a threat to national security was not [just] a declaration — it was a commitment to action,” Katz says. “As we said, we will not allow a situation in which Israeli citizens are forced to breathe poison. We will continue to act with full force until this phenomenon is eradicated at its root.”