Gaza Strip: Water Contamination in the North

March 15, 2024 Hour: 4:30 pm

On Friday, the Palestinian press warned that health conditions in the northern Gaza Strip worsened due to the overflow of sewage and contamination of the liquid used for drinking.

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Al Quds news portal stressed that this situation, caused by continuous Israeli shelling since October 7, caused the spread of diseases.

In the backstreets of Jabalia refugee camp, sewage leaks into citizens’ homes and shelter centers, it noted.

Earlier this year, the Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority revealed that 66 percent of the Strip’s population suffers from the spread of diseases transmitted by contaminated water, including cholera and chronic diarrhea.

Witnesses say Israeli helicopters and tanks opened fire on crowds of desperately hungry people waiting for aid in north Gaza, where Israeli forces have repeatedly been accused of attacking aid seekers. pic.twitter.com/VK9zYYZx9B

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish)
March 15, 2024

In an interview with Anadolu News Agency, Jabalia Mayor Mazen Al-Najjar denounced that the Israeli army destroyed more than 70 percent of the wells.

The water extracted by residents using primitive methods is contaminated, he confirmed.

In addition to the lack of the vital liquid, there is famine, due to the shortage of food and nutrients as a result of the siege and the war, he stressed.

Since the beginning of the conflict we have not been able to get diesel supplies, which increased the complexity of service delivery due to power outages, he said.

The Gaza death toll has risen to more than 31,485 Palestinians amid Israel’s continued bombardment of the besieged enclave since October 7, says the health ministry.

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— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish)
March 15, 2024

Earlier this month, the Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and the Environmental Quality Authority warned that 75 percent of Palestinians in northern Gaza drink contaminated water.

They detailed that the Gazan population consumes only one to three liters of the liquid daily.

They specified that 65 sewage pumps stopped working due to the Israeli blockade on the entry of fuel into the region, as well as six treatment plants and systems.

The decision led to the discharge of some 130,000 cubic meters of untreated sewage into the Mediterranean Sea per day.

At the beginning of October last year, days before the Israeli aggression, the PCBS denounced that barely 40 percent of the Palestinian population had access to water managed safely and free of contamination.