A gigantic oil spill was detected in Israel on February 16th. It was estimated to have started somewhere between the 6th and the 10th of February. Nearly a thousand tons of tar have washed up on over 120 miles of the shoreline.

The cause of the oil spill is currently unknown. Multiple tankers are being investigated. The investigation was initially centered on only a few ships, but has since multiplied to dozens of potential suspects.

“The pollution has a source,” Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel said in a statement reported in the Washington Post. “We will not ignore this environmental crime and will take all measures to locate the criminal.”

Israeli Prime Minister set aside $14 million dollars to clean up beaches and shoreline that will likely take months or years to completely recover from.

Thousands of volunteers are working on the cleanup and some have even been hospitalized due to inhalation of tar fumes. The Prime Minister’s Office in Lebanon has also reported that the tar has reached their shorelines.

“So many people are cleaning and quickly filling bag after bag,” Moshiko Saadi, an environmental activist said in an interview with New York Times. “But then you look up and you see there are still huge amounts everywhere. It makes you feel helpless.”

As of now, Israel is accusing Iran of purposely causing the spill in an act of environmental terrorism.