fears-grow-people-are-dehydrating-to-death-in-gaza-as-clean-water-runs-out
Fears are growing that people in Gaza are beginning to dehydrate to death as clean water runs out, while Israeli airstrikes continue to pound the Palestinian territory of 2.3 million residents amid a total blockade on
food, electricity, medicine and fuel.
The UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said on Tuesday that Gaza’s last seawater desalination plant had shut down, bringing the risk of further deaths and waterborne diseases such as cholera and dysentery. Six water wells, three water pumping stations and one water reservoir – which collectively served more than 1.1million people – are also out of action, it said.
After 16 years of a joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade, imposed after Hamas seized control of the exclave in 2007, clean water was already one of the most pressing concerns in the strip. Almost 97% of the water in Gaza’s sole aquifer is not potable; without proper maintenance and with Israeli restrictions on imports and electricity, sewage treatment plants were overwhelmed years ago. Untreated waste has flowed directly into the Mediterranean for more than a decade.
Now, desperate civilians find themselves consuming the contaminated tap water, or digging new wells too close to the sea to drink and use dirty, salty water. “People are trying to fetch water out of dangerous places, like the wells at mosques. In fact, children were killed [by airstrikes] while trying to drink water at a mosque a week ago,” said Jamil al-Meqdad, a writer and researcher in Gaza City.
“Water for daily use, washing, dishwashing etc was completely cut because there is no electricity for generators to pump water … And the water truck only comes about once every three days, so no one can get enough. The only remaining water is being distributed in small amounts so that each person can have a small share.”
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