English
العربية
Français
Deutsch
Español
русский
हिंदी
اردو
LoginGaza Rights Center Says Israeli Occupation Weaponizes Water to Slowly Imperil Gazans' Lives
Gaza, June 27 (QNA) - Gaza Rights Center warned of the near-crumbling of the water system in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing Israeli offensives that devastated infrastructure and blocked the access of fuel supplies and essential equipment to operate and repair water facilities.
In a statement, the center said this near collapse would force over a million Palestinians to grapple with the summer season in catastrophic conditions as temperatures spike to over 40 degrees inside tents and shelters.
It added that these harsh conditions would deprive hundreds of thousands of families of the minimum threshold of essential water for drinking and fundamental uses.
The thirsty and humanitarian crises unfolding in the Gaza enclave are corollaries of an Israeli methodical policy that targeted the civilian life-saving components, the statement continued, adding that the water system and sanitation infrastructure had been primarily decimated.
The statement noted that these actions led to a near-crumpling of fundamental services, thereby creating an unlivable environment that triggers the outbreak of diseases and epidemics, ultimately leading to thirst and undernourishment simultaneously.
The documented data, the statement reads, indicates that the average amount of water available per person in the enclave has fallen from around 80 liters per day before October 2023 to between 3 and 6 liters per day in most areas.
In some areas it does not exceed two liters per day, the statement warns, stressing that these levels are far below the minimum emergency threshold set by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is 15 liters per person per day.
In addition, the statement further noted that the data rendered by international humanitarian organizations suggest that over 80% of water and sanitation networks have been gravely decimated due to Israeli shelling, mostly deliberate bombardments.
Over 1,675 km of water and sewage networks have been either destroyed or damaged, while most desalination plants, pumping stations, and treatment facilities have been brought to a standstill, the statement cautioned.
Meanwhile, the statement said a significant portion of pumped water is being lost due to the decrepit networks, and the majority of groundwater has become undrinkable because of high salinity and contamination from effluents.
The statement recalled that this collapse has something to do with the persistent blocking of the entry of essential fuel to operate these water plants, coupled with perpetuated power blackout across the enclave, which squarely disrupts the operation of water wells, desalination plants, and pumping stations, thereby worsening the suffering further and triggering residents to venture out to long-distance areas to find water.
Consequently, the center warned of an unprecedented surge in health and humanitarian risks amid the ongoing heatwave, noting that nearly one million Palestinians are living in tents lacking even the most basic conditions for survival.
Thousands of families are forced to choose between using water for drinking, cooking, or maintaining personal hygiene, a situation that has contributed to rising rates of waterborne diseases, particularly among children, the elderly, and patients, the statement said.
It added that field evidence, along with Israeli restrictions on the entry of fuel, maintenance materials, and equipment needed to restart water facilities, reflects what it described as the use of water deprivation as a means of exerting pressure on civilians.
The statement noted that this is consistent with what humanitarian organizations and UN experts have documented regarding the weaponization of water as a tool in what they have characterized as genocidal conduct.
It further stressed that international humanitarian law utterly prohibits starving civilians or depriving them of indispensable items, as well as destroying or disrupting critical life-saving civilian facilities.
That said, the center warned that the persistence of this reality, coupled with the wide devastation that hit the infrastructure and precluded repair and supplies, makes this water crisis one of the cataclysmic humanitarian manifestations engulfing the Gaza Strip.
These actions, with the wider and methodical violation model against civilians, the statement asserted, amount to one of the acts of genocide by deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of a population in whole or in part, including the deprivation of basic necessities essential for survival.
That said, the center called on the international community, the United Nations, and countries parties to the Geneva Convention to act immediately in compelling Israel to halt attacking civilian infrastructure, lift restrictions on access to these life-saving essentials, and ensure the unhindered access of maintenance and relief personnel to all parts across the enclave and the flow of drinking water to residents.
It also called for launching international independent probes into the systematic attacks on water and sanitation facilities and holding all those responsible for weaponizing water to account as a grave breach of international humanitarian law and a crime that requires impunity. (QNA)
chat
Hello! How can we help?
Beta
