Gaza, June 13 (QNA) - Deputy Head of the Gaza Strip Municipalities Union, Alaa Al Din Al Batta, warned that Gaza is facing one of the most severe environmental, public health and humanitarian crises in its history as a result of the war.

In an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), Al Batta said the environmental system and water and sanitation services had reached a state of near-total collapse because of the continuing blockade and the extensive destruction of critical infrastructure.

He said the war had destroyed or damaged about 80 percent of buildings and facilities across the territory, resulting in the accumulation of more than 57 million tons of debris. The rubble, he added, contains hazardous materials and unexploded ordnance that pose a continuing threat to residents and the environment.

He said the water sector had sustained extensive damage, with more than 80 percent of water infrastructure destroyed, including wells, transmission networks, pumping stations and desalination plants.

The destruction, he said, has sharply reduced water availability, leaving residents with less than 14 liters of water per person per day, a figure that falls well below internationally recognized minimum standards.

Municipalities and service providers are struggling to operate the remaining wells and desalination facilities, he said, even as those installations must function continuously to supply more than 140,000 cubic meters of drinking and household water daily to a population of more than two million people. Demand has increased further amid high summer temperatures.

Al Batta said the destruction of treatment plants and major transmission networks had caused a widespread collapse of the wastewater system, forcing crews to discharge more than 80,000 cubic meters of untreated sewage into the sea and surrounding environment each day, creating what he described as the risk of a large-scale public health and marine disaster.

Protection of residential areas from flooding and contamination depends largely on the continued operation of pumping stations that handle approximately 50,000 cubic meters of wastewater daily, he said. However, severe shortages of fuel, lubricants, spare parts and maintenance supplies threaten to halt operations at any time.

As an example of the worsening environmental crisis, Al Batta pointed to the Sheikh Radwan lagoon in northern Gaza City, which receives more than 10,000 cubic meters of sewage each day from urban neighborhoods. He warned that repeated technical failures and fuel shortages affecting the associated pumping station could result in large-scale flooding of wastewater, posing direct environmental and health risks to tens of thousands of residents in nearby densely populated areas and accelerating the spread of disease.

The environmental consequences have also had a serious impact on the health sector, he said. Hospitals and medical facilities depend heavily on desalination plants to provide safe water for medical procedures and treatment services. The inability to operate those facilities because of shortages of fuel and maintenance materials threatens the continuity of critical services, particularly kidney dialysis units and intensive care departments, placing the lives of thousands of patients and wounded people at risk, he said.

In the solid waste sector, Al Batta said municipalities face unprecedented challenges because of shortages of heavy equipment and fuel, as well as restrictions on access to major landfill sites in eastern Gaza.

Those restrictions, he said, have led to the accumulation of nearly one million cubic meters of waste in temporary and informal dumping sites within residential neighborhoods and around displacement centers. Among them is the Firas Market dump site in central Gaza City, where more than 370,000 cubic meters of waste have accumulated, contributing to the spread of insects and rodents, foul odors and increasing environmental contamination risks.

Al Batta issued an urgent appeal to international mediators, the United Nations and its specialized agencies, humanitarian organizations, donor countries and the broader international community to intervene and press for the immediate and sustained entry of fuel, diesel, lubricants, spare parts, pumps and chlorine needed to disinfect water and operate desalination and wastewater facilities.

He also called for the lifting of restrictions on the entry of heavy equipment and materials required to repair and rehabilitate damaged water and sewage networks and treatment plants.

In addition, he urged that technical teams, municipalities and international organizations be granted safe access to all damaged facilities, particularly those in eastern Gaza, to carry out emergency repairs. He called for urgent and sustained international financial and humanitarian support to ensure the continuation of basic municipal services and the protection of public health.

Al Batta also called for the immediate development and implementation of a comprehensive reconstruction program for the water, sanitation and energy sectors, which are essential to the survival of the population. Such efforts, he said, should proceed alongside a complete lifting of the blockade and the free and regular flow of humanitarian aid, construction materials and equipment needed to restore essential services across Gaza. (QNA)