For more than a year, Israel has imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip, where nearly 2.3 million inhabitants live deprived of everything, particularly water. Two representatives of the NGO Oxfam, passing through Paris, testify to the collapse of the water supply in the Palestinian enclave.
Published on 15/11/2024 19:25
Reading time: 1min
A rare resource, but also a weapon of war in the Gaza Strip. According to the NGO Oxfam, it is used by the Israeli army to bring Hamas to its knees. In the Palestinian enclave, sewage treatment plants are destroyed, desalination plants are razed and reservoirs are pulverized.
For Monther Shoblak, director general of the Gaza Strip's water services, this destruction is not the result of collateral damage, but of targeted strikes. “Before the war, we gave them the coordinates of all the water supply infrastructure and sanitation sitesexplique Monther Shoblak. We gave all the information to the Israelis, but when they launched the war in Gaza, they destroyed all this equipment.”
“Depriving the population of the most essential needs is a war crime.”
Monther Shoblak, Director General of the Gaza Strip Water Servicesat franceinfo
According to Oxfam, the amount of water available in the Gaza Strip has collapsed by 94%. The health situation is dramatic, says Theresa Targean, returning from the Palestinian enclave. “People are in survival, so they drink dirty waterexplains the coordinator of Oxfam's humanitarian response in the Palestinian Territories. As a result, easily preventable illnesses are widespread in the Gaza Strip, such as scabies or impetigo, a bacterial infection. There are also a large number of cases of hepatitis A. We also had the first case of polio in 25 years. We are witnessing collective punishment, that’s obvious.”
And to this must be added tens of kilometers of destroyed pipes. As a result, sewage floods the streets and IDP camps.
