The vast majority of Gaza Palestinians have been moved several times and many die from the famine induced by Israeli. An unprecedented water crisis also takes place through the enclave, softening greater misery on its residents.
Gaza was already undergoing a water crisis before almost 22 months of Israeli bombing and soil operations damaged more than 80% of the territory aquatic infrastructure.
“Sometimes I have the impression that my dry body from the inside. Thirstys all my energy and that of my children,” said Um Nidal Abu Nahl, a mother of four children living in Gaza City.
Water trucks sometimes reach residents, and NGOs install taps in the camps for a few lucky people, but it is far from sufficient.
Israel reconnected water pipes in the north of Gaza to the Israeli Water Company Mekorot after cutting the supplies at the start of the war, but the residents said that the water still did not flow.
Local authorities have said that this is due to war damage to the Gaza water distribution network with many main pipes destroyed.
Gaza City spokesperson Asem Alnabih said that the network of the network of the network provided by Mekorot has not operated for almost two weeks.
The wells that have provided water for certain needs before the war have also been damaged, and some are contaminated by wastewater which are not treated due to the conflict.
Many Gaza wells are simply inaccessible because they are located in combat areas, too close to Israeli military facilities or in areas subject to forced evacuation.
The wells generally operate on electric pumps and energy has been rare since Israel has cut the power of Gaza.
Generators could feed the pumps, but hospitals are hierarchical for limited fuel deliveries.
Gaza’s desalination plants are out of operation, with the exception of a single site that reopened last week after Israel restored its electricity supply.
Alnabih said the situation with the infrastructure was dark.
More than 75% of the wells are excluding service, 85% of public works equipment has been destroyed, 100,000 meters (62 miles) of water pipes have been damaged and 200,000 meters (124 miles) of sewer lines are unusable.
The pumping stations are excluding service and 250,000 tonnes of waste obstructs the streets.
To find water, hundreds of thousands of people always try to extract groundwater directly from the wells.
However, the coastal aquifer of Gaza is naturally brackish and far exceeds salinity standards for drinking water.
In 2021, UNICEF warned that almost 100% of Gaza’s groundwater was unfit for consumption.
With clean water almost impossible to find, some Palestinians wrongly believe that brackish water is free from bacteria.
Gaza’s humanitarian workers had to warn several times that even if residents can get used to taste, their kidneys will inevitably suffer.
Although the Gaza water crisis has received less attention from the media than the current hunger crisis, its effects are just as fatal.
“Like food, water should never be used for political purposes,” said UNICEF spokesperson Rosalia Bollen. If it is very difficult to quantify the water shortage, she said: “There is a serious lack of drinking water.”
“It is extremely hot, diseases spread and water is really the problem that we are not talking about enough,” she added.
