Clean water in Gaza becomes increasingly scarce amid Israel’s ongoing total lockdown

Municipal authorities on the territory said hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents have lost their only source of clear water in the past week after an updated offensive cuts Israeli hydropower graph.

Now many people have to walk, sometimes miles, to create a small water fill after the bombing of the Israeli military and the ground offensive in the Shejaiya community east of Gaza City.

“I’ve been waiting for water since the morning,” said Faten Nassar, a 42-year-old Gaza woman. “There are no stations and no trucks.

Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israel ordered Shejaiya residents to evacuate last week as it launched an attack that was bombed by several areas. The military has said it is opposing “terrorist infrastructure” and killing a senior radical leader.

Municipal authorities say that since the destruction of most wells during the war, Mekorote’s pipeline has been providing 70% of the water in Gaza.

“The situation is very difficult and the situation is becoming more and more complicated, especially when people’s daily lives and their daily water needs (whether it’s cleaning, disinfecting, or even cooking).” said Husni Mhana, a spokesman for the city.

“We are now living in the real thirst crisis in Gaza City and if the situation remains the same we will face a difficult reality in the coming days.”

Intensify the water crisis

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people were internally displaced by war, and many traveled on foot every day to fill plastic containers with water from a few wells still operating in remote areas, and even these wells did not guarantee a clean supply.

According to Israeli Tallies, drinking, cooking and washing of Gaza residents became increasingly luxury after the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas began, with his fighter jets carrying out the deadliest attack on Israel in decades in October 2023, killing 1,200 people in southern Israel and killing about 250 people.

Since then, Palestinian authorities say more than 50,800 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military campaign.

Many residents spend hours on the enclave queue to get a water fill, which is usually not enough to meet their daily needs.

“I walk a long distance. I’m tired. I’m old and I don’t walk and drink water every day,” said Adel al-Hourani, 64.

Most wells in Gaza cannot be operated

The only natural water source in the Gaza Strip is the coastal aquifer basin, which runs along the Mediterranean coast from the northern Mediterranean coast of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, through Gaza and into Israel.

But its salty tap water is severely depleted, with up to 97% of people deemed unsuitable for human consumption due to salinity, excess batches and pollution.

The Palestinian Water Authority said most of its wells were unavailable during the war.

On March 22, a joint statement from the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics and the Water Authority said that more than 85% of Gaza’s water and sanitation facilities and assets were completely or partially discontinued.

Palestinian and UN officials said that most of Gaza’s desalination plants in Gaza were either damaged or stopped operating due to Israeli power and fuel.

“The water supply rate averages three to five litres per day due to widespread damage caused by the water and sanitation sector,” the statement said.

According to the World Health Organization’s indicators, this is much lower than the demand for at least 15 liters per person per day in emergencies.

Food, medicines are exhausted

Since Israel completely cut off all supplies from about 2.3 million residents in the Gaza Strip, the food stored during the ceasefire at the beginning of the year has been almost exhausted.

Emergency dining allocations have ended, bakeries are closed and the market is empty.

Hani Abu-Al Qasim, a food distribution officer at a food bank stall in Khan Younis, said it was using very little food but would run out soon.

“People are coming to us with the last resort,” he told CBC freelance photographer Mohamed El Saife on Friday.

Ahmed Abu Daqqa, a resident who was waiting in line at the food bank, said Palestinians in the territory did not know if they would wake up the next day and be able to get hands on food.

“Civilians are waiting in line for hours, waiting for food they sometimes don’t have access to. It’s a huge misery,” he said.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that drug stocks are also low, making it difficult to keep hospitals partially operating.

Rik Peeperkorn official told reporters in Geneva via a video link in Jerusalem.