Hundreds of thousands of residents of the city of Gaza have lost their main source of clean water last week after the supplies of the Israel water company were cut by the renewed offensive of the Israeli army, municipal authorities said in the territory.
Many now have to walk, sometimes by miles, to fill a small water after the bombing of the Israeli army and the land offensive in the neighborhood of SHEJAIA EAST of the city of Gaza, in the north of the strip, damaged the pipe operated by Mekorot of state property.
“From the morning, I have been waiting for water,” said the 42 -year -old Gaza woman Faten Nassar. “There are no stations or trucks.
Israel’s army said in a statement that he was in contact with the relevant organizations to coordinate the repair of what he called a malfunction of the Northern Pipe as soon as possible.
He said that a second pipe that supplies Southern Gaza was still working, and added that the water supply system “is based on several water sources, including local desalination facilities distributed throughout the gaza strip.”
Israel ordered Shejaia residents to evacuate last week, since he launched an offensive that has seen several bombed districts. The military has previously said that he was operating against “terrorist infrastructure” and had killed a major militant leader.
The Northern pipe had been providing 70% of the water in the city of Gaza since the destruction of most of its wells during the war, the municipal authorities say.
“The situation is very difficult and things are becoming more complicated, especially when it comes to the daily life of people and their daily water needs, either to clean, disinfect and even cook and drink,” said Husni Mhana, spokesman for the municipality.
“Now we are living in a true thirst crisis in the city of Gaza, and we could face a difficult reality in the next few days if the situation remains the same.”
Most of the 2.3 million people in Gaza have moved internally through the war, and many make daily trips to fill plastic containers with water of the few wells that still work in more remote areas, and even these do not guarantee clean supplies.
The water to drink, cook and wash has become increasingly a luxury for Gaza residents after the beginning of the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose combatants carried out the most deadly attack in decades in Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 people in southern Israel and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli.
Since then, more than 50,800 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel military campaign, the Palestinian authorities said.
Many residents through the tail of the enclave for hours to fill with water, which is generally not enough for their daily needs.
“I walk long distances. I tire. I am old, I’m not young to walk every day to get water,” said Adel Al-Hourani, 64.
The only natural source of water in the Gaza Strip is the coastal aquifer basin, which runs along the Eastern Mediterranean coast from the Northern Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, through Gaza and in Israel.
But its salty tap water is severely exhausted, with up to 97% considered not suitable for human consumption due to salinity, overexstraction and pollution.
The Palestinian water authority declared that most of its wells had become inoperable during the war.
On March 22, a joint statement from the Palestinian Statistics Office and the Water Authority said that more than 85% of the water and sanitation facilities and sanitation in Gaza were completely out of service.
Palestinian officials and the United Nations said that most Gaza desalination plants were damaged or stopped operations due to the power and fuel cuts in Israel.
“Due to the extensive damage incurred by the water and sanitation sector, the water supply rates have decreased to an average of 3-5 liters per person per day,” the statement said.
According to the indicators of the World Health Organization, he added that it was well below the minimum of 15 liters per person per day for emergencies in emergencies.
