Israel reduced water supply in Gaza by 94 percent

Gazans waiting to recieve water supply, July 2024 Photo: @unetomaterouge

July 18, 2024 Hour: 4:49 pm

Gazans only have up to 4.74 litres of the vital resource per day per person

The latest report by the NGO Oxfam Intermon, Water War Crimes (Water War Crimes), which specializes in providing water in emergency situations, denounced that Israel, since the beginning of the offensive on October 7, reduced the water supply in Gaza by 94 percent.

These data showed that Gazans only have up to 4.74 litres of the vital resource per day per person, just under a third of the minimum amount recommended in emergency situations.

“We have already seen Israel apply collective punishments and use hunger as a weapon of war in contempt for human life and international law. Now we see how it does the same with water, and there are already deadly consequences,” said the NGO’s Water and Sanitation specialist, Lama Abdul Samad.

On the other hand, the report noted that the Israeli attacks have wiped out five water and sanitation infrastructure facilities every three days since the beginning of the bombing.

An Oxfam report, entitled Water War Crimes, finds that Israel’s deliberate reduction of water access in Gaza has put civilians at under a third of the recommended minimum

Israel's cutting of the external water supply, systematic destruction of water facilities and deliberate aid… pic.twitter.com/FtmcZlhVzH
— MintPress News (@MintPressNews) July 18, 2024

In addition, he said that the Israeli offensive has also destroyed 70 percent of wastewater pumps and 100 percent of wastewater treatment plants, as well as Gaza’s main water quality analysis laboratories.

This has caused the besieged territory to present an “extreme lack of clean water”, which has already caused more than a quarter (26 percent) of the Gazathian population to have suffered health problems, such as acute diarrhea, hepatitis A and other infections, according to Médecins sans Frontières (MSF).