Gaza, November 23 (QNA) - Following two years of devastating Israeli attacks, municipalities in Gaza Strip are confronting immense challenges to restore life to normalcy by providing essential services amid widespread destruction across vital sectors, including water and sanitation, waste management, and the rehabilitation of main roads, all amid massive debris accumulation.
Municipal crews and administrations in Gaza are operating under limited resources and daily pressures to meet growing humanitarian needs, in what officials describe as the worst conditions in the history of municipal work due to the extensive damage that has crippled their capabilities to deliver services, while demand for necessities continues to rise.
The situation is further complicated by the displacement of hundreds of thousands of residents into confined neighborhoods, as the Israeli occupation prevents the return of people to their original homes in the eastern areas of the Strip, classified as the so-called "yellow zone" under full Israeli occupation control.
Mayor of Gaza City, Engineer Yahya Al Sarraj, emphasized that the projects and initiatives implemented by the municipality represent preliminary, temporary measures aimed at easing residents' hardships and ensuring basic services after two years of war that devastated lives.
Al Sarraj told QNA that the comprehensive destruction of nearly all urban components - homes, shops, markets, cultural centers, libraries, desalination plants, and hospitals - places an enormous burden on our shoulders, as municipal offices were destroyed and field crews suffered casualties from the occupation's attacks.
Despite the destruction, he added, Gaza Municipality is striving to maintain the city's lifeline through community-driven and field-based initiatives in cooperation with local organizations, despite limited funding, technical capacities, and recurring hostilities.
Al Sarraj highlighted the recently launched campaign titles "We'll Rebuild It Again", in partnership with a network of civil society organizations, the Chamber of Commerce, community institutions, volunteers, and youth teams. The campaign aims to mobilize community participation in reconstruction, clear main streets of debris and waste, and plant trees to restore a small part of the city's greenery lost during the Israeli attacks.
Regarding municipal efforts despite scarce resources, Al Sarraj noted that approximately 400 main and secondary streets in Gaza City have been reopened and nearly 50,000 tons of debris removed from vital streets. However, ongoing operations depend on access to heavy machinery and international support to manage over 20 million tons of rubble. The municipality urgently requires bulldozers, excavators, compactors, generators, solar power systems, water and sewage pumps, sufficient fuel to operate critical facilities around the clock, and replacement materials to repair damaged water and sewage networks.
He stressed that addressing debris removal and essential services is impossible without restoring the municipality's fleet and equipment, noting that the Israeli occupation destroyed its 134 vehicles and heavy machinery previously used for waste collection, water pumping, and sewage management, as well as numerous pumps and wells.
Mayor of Deir al-Balah, Nizar Ayyash, noted that the shortage of equipment and the destruction of city infrastructure prevent municipal teams from clearing debris and restoring essential services, particularly water supply and waste removal. Even if the needed equipment were allowed into Gaza, he said, Deir Al-Balah would need at least three months just to remove debris from main streets.
Mayor of Jabalia Al-Nazla, Mazen Al-Najjar, highlighted that the city has been rendered largely uninhabitable due to the destruction of infrastructure and public facilities, with 90 percent of municipal equipment and offices destroyed. He added that the lack of operational capacity significantly hampers street clearance and debris removal, prolonging the displacement of residents.
Despite the ceasefire signed on 10 October, which followed extensive destruction of approximately 92 percent of residential buildings, the Israeli occupation continues to block reconstruction materials and debris removal, as well as basic humanitarian supplies for health, water, and other essential services, as stipulated under the humanitarian protocol attached to the ceasefire agreement. This ongoing obstruction continues to impede both local and international agencies from providing essential services to Gaza residents exhausted by the war. (QNA)