Deadly Israeli attacks worsen Gaza’s water shortage crisis | Gaza

Israeli forces killed a water engineer and two drivers who carried water to displaced families in Gaza for four days in mid-April; This has worsened severe shortages of clean water, which has led to the spread of preventable diseases.

Israel’s restrictions on the shipment of soap, washing powder and other hygiene products to Gaza also caused prices to rise; This has increased the challenges of staying clean and avoiding infection in overcrowded shelters and tent camps.

In more than two and a half years of war, Israeli attacks have destroyed much of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, including networks that provide clean water and clean and purify sewage. They also repeatedly killed Palestinian civilians who tried to protect or repair them.

“We have lost approximately 19 workers carrying out repair and distribution work at water facilities since the beginning of the war,” said Omar Shatat, deputy director of water works for Gaza’s coastal municipalities. “Targeting has become part of the operational reality.”

The latest attack was last Monday, when water engineers were working at the al-Zein well in northern Gaza.

The attack killed one person, injured four others and caused extensive structural damage to “a critical water supply serving the surrounding population,” according to an incident report reviewed by the Guardian. The document warned that disruptions in water supplies would affect thousands of people.

four days ago, Israeli forces shot dead two drivers working for UnicefThe UN’s children’s agency is at the main water catchment in northern Gaza. Two more people were injured in the attack, which Unicef ​​said threatened humanitarian networks that provide clean water to hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza.

UN recognized access to clean water It is a fundamental right to set a standard of between 50 and 100 liters per person per day, except in emergencies.

Unicef ​​said the average daily supply across Gaza is only 7 liters of drinking water and 16 liters of domestic water, and many people do not even have access to at least 6 liters of clean drinking water per day.

The price of soap and other cleaning supplies has doubled compared to last month. Anwar al-Maghribi, who has a shop in a market in Deir al-Balah, said the shortage and high demand had created a “huge crisis”.

“A 7kg pack of laundry detergent rose from 50 shekels to 100 shekels or more, and other cleaning products saw similar increases,” he said.

Laureline Lasserre, Médecins Sans Frontières’ director of emergency humanitarian affairs in Gaza, said people were falling ill because they did not have access to clean water and basic sanitation.

“No clean water, no soap, overcrowded living conditions; that’s the root cause of so much of what we treat every day,” he said.

He said many Palestinians are forced to choose between drinking, cooking and washing on a daily basis. Women report infections because they cannot wash during menstruation and even after birth, and babies constantly get sick because there is no clean water for formula.

The wounds become infested with larvae because people cannot wash them. Lasserre added that MSF doctors have also reported psychological problems, including suicidal ideation, caused by extreme water shortages.

“By destroying water infrastructure, Israeli authorities prevent humanitarian teams from providing alternatives. They cause a water crisis and prevent a solution.”

Omar Saada, 38, a displaced father of four in Khan Younis, said a water truck served more than 50 families in his area. This is not enough to cover the 20 liters of pocket money per person, so there is a race to fill the family’s containers every morning.

“We wake up as early as 6 in the morning to get water from the trucks. Previously, water could be bought from early morning until noon, but now it usually only takes two hours,” he said. The family has cut back on bathing and laundry, infected their children with skin infections, and the water doesn’t always feel safe to drink.

“Sometimes it causes intestinal infections and stomach aches due to contamination, but since it is the only water available we are forced to drink it.”

Water trucks come only once a week to the Al Qararah area, where Nesma Rashwan, a 31-year-old mother of five, lives in a tent. He also says the water smells and tastes unsafe, but the family has no choice.

“We haven’t had clean drinking water to truly quench our thirst for nearly a year now,” he said. “I once bought fresh drinking water when my son was sick, but I can’t afford to buy it regularly; a gallon costs five shekels, so we make do with what we have.”

Having difficulty finding water to wash dishes and clothes, she sends her children to the sea to wash, and when they return, she pours a very small amount of the stored fresh water on them.

Effect of damage to water pipes and desalination plants This situation was further exacerbated by Israeli restrictions on bringing fuel, spare parts and basic equipment into Gaza.

“We were forced to improvise by recycling and combining parts from demolished facilities to create a single functioning unit; I describe this as ‘putting the parts together,’” Shatat said.

“For example, we collect usable spare parts from multiple destroyed wells to operate a working well, or combine parts from several damaged pump stations to build a single working station.”

Shrapnel from an Israeli airstrike earlier this month damaged a power line to the Deir al-Balah desalination plant, which provides water to 400,000 people.

A lack of spare parts delayed repairs by a week, during which time the backup generators were only able to operate at 20% capacity. Saada said that water distribution to his region stopped during this period.

The impact of water scarcity is compounded by the lack of sewage treatment facilities, and as temperatures rise in the summer months, risks to human health from both are likely to increase unless large amounts of equipment are allowed into Gaza.

Shatat said: “The greatest tragedy is in the camps, where approximately 1.1 million people live without sewage networks, relying instead on frequently overflowing suction pits, creating a serious health and environmental disaster.”

In school buildings now used as shelters, septic tanks regularly overflow, causing sewage leaks that spill into classrooms and spread between rooms.

Stating that there was no cement for repairs, most of the truck fleet that once emptied septic tanks was destroyed in the war and new trucks were not allowed in, Shatat said that Gaza needed 100 trucks, but only 15 remained and they were worn out due to intense use.

Israel denies there are any restrictions on the equipment or fuel needed to run water and sanitation systems in Gaza and has said it provides clean water through three pipelines and allows water to pass through Egypt on a fourth.

A spokesman for Cogat, Israel’s body that oversees aid in Palestine, said these pipelines contribute to an estimated supply of 70,000 cubic meters per day in Gaza, or 30 liters per person.

“There are four active water pipes [supplying] Gaza Strip. There are operational desalination plants and dozens of water wells receiving regular fuel [to power pumps]they said.

When asked about the shooting of truck drivers near a humanitarian aid point, the Israel Defense Forces said that the troops who opened fire “perceived a threat” but did not provide further details.

The IDF declined to comment on the question about the water engineer killed in the El-Zein well.