GAZA, (PIC)
The citizen Suad Fares Al-Sayyed sits inside her displacement tent west of Gaza City, watching her children take turns with a gallon of water that is barely enough for one day, after a long journey of waiting among hundreds of displaced people around a tanker truck that does not arrive regularly.
The citizen Suad lost her husband during an attempt to secure food, and today she finds herself facing a harsher daily battle related to obtaining water. She says that her children contracted skin diseases because of the absence of bathing for consecutive days, while doctors confirm that the direct cause is due to the lack of ability to maintain personal hygiene as a result of the repercussions of the Israeli siege and genocide.
This testimony reflects a side of a situation lived by more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where the water crisis is worsening in an unprecedented manner as a result of the Israeli restrictions imposed on the entry of fuel, equipment, and maintenance materials, alongside the widespread destruction that affected the infrastructure since the start of Israel’s military attack on October 7, 2023.
This has led to a near-complete collapse in the ability of local institutions to produce, transport, and distribute water, and obtaining water has turned into a strenuous daily burden weighing down the population, especially in overcrowded areas of displacement, according to a statement issued by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.
85% of Gaza population are deprived of clean water
Field data indicates that around 85 percent of the population of the Strip are deprived of regular access to clean water, which drives the majority of families to rely on unsafe and high-cost alternative sources, such as private water tankers or unregulated commercial wells.
This comes in light of a sharp economic deterioration, which increases the difficulty of securing the minimum level of basic needs.
On the structural level, water production in the Gaza Strip declined to around 150,000 cubic meters per day, compared to around 300,000 cubic meters before the war, which means losing half of the production capacity, according to data from the Water and Environmental Quality Authority.
The current production relies on limited sources including the remaining groundwater wells, the lines of the Israeli Mekorot company, and desalination plants operating partially.
Also, the percentage of the population who obtain water through public networks decreased to less than 50 percent, after it used to exceed 95 percent, coinciding with the rise in the percentage of water loss in the networks to around 65 percent as a result of destruction and the difficulty of maintenance.
The crisis appears more acute in the daily share per capita, which declined to around 25 liters, and drops in some areas of displacement to less than 5 liters daily, which is a level far below the humanitarian minimum standard approved in emergencies, which is 15 liters, and below the standards of the World Health Organization which recommends around 100 liters daily per capita.
Deficit of 70%
In Gaza City, the spokesperson for the municipality, Hosni Muhanna, explains that the quantities available currently do not exceed 30,000 cubic meters daily, while the actual need reaches 100,000 cubic meters during the summer season, meaning that the deficit exceeds 70 percent.
He attributes this sharp shortage to the Israeli destruction of water facilities, including the desalination plant in the Al-Sudaniya area, and the destruction of the majority of central wells, in addition to the bulldozing of hundreds of thousands of meters of distribution networks. He warns of the danger of the remaining facilities stopping at any moment due to the lack of fuel, spare parts, and basic materials for operation.
Multiple repercussions
The effects of the crisis are not limited to the shortage of water for drinking, but extend to disrupting food preparation, operating health facilities, and sterilizing medical tools, making it a major factor in the worsening of famine and the spread of diseases. Residents confirm that the details of daily life have become subject to strict rationing, from drinking and cooking to bathing and washing clothes, in light of high costs to obtain water from private sources.
In this context, Nahed Muhammad Al-Koumi, a displaced person who returned to his damaged house in the Sheikh Ajlin neighborhood, relates that water does not reach the neighborhood as a result of the destruction of the networks, which forces him to buy water and transport it by tankers, then lift it manually to the roof of the house, at costs that cannot be sustained over the long term. He points out that the lack of water led to the spread of skin diseases and insects among children, with the continued inability to provide the minimum level of hygiene.
Data reveals that the water system in the Gaza Strip was subjected to widespread destruction affecting 89 percent of its components, including distribution networks, desalination plants, wells, and reservoirs, which led to water insecurity for more than 91 percent of the population. Also, around 65 percent of the population were forced to suffice with less than six liters daily per capita at the beginning of the war, which is a level that does not meet the minimum requirements for survival.
In the legal dimension, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights confirms that the destruction of water facilities and preventing their rehabilitation constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law, which provides special protection for objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population.
The Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols prohibit targeting or disrupting water installations, and oblige the occupying power to ensure the provision of the basic needs of the population, including water and public health.
Experts point out that using water deprivation as a means of pressure or as part of military operations may amount to a war crime, especially when it leads to exposing the civilian population to grave risks threatening their lives and health.
Field testimonies and statistical data reflect a deteriorating humanitarian situation, where the water crisis in Gaza is no longer a matter of an emergency shortage, but has turned into a complex structural crisis touching the core of the daily life of the population, and placing them before existential challenges in light of the continuation of restrictions and the absence of sustainable solutions that restore the minimum level of vital services.