Israeli strike kills Gaza workers trying to restore drinking water

Employees killed as they were preparing to work on wells that provide water to the city, says municipality spokesman

Palestinian boys outside the Gaza municipality garage on Al Wahda Street in Gaza city on June 21. AFP

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An Israeli airstrike on a municipal building in Gaza city on Friday killed at least five people, including four workers, and caused significant destruction, a municipality spokesman told The National.

Civil defence teams are searching for bodies in the rubble after the Gaza Municipality garage was destroyed in a strike as employees were preparing to begin work on wells to supply water to locals, according to spokesman Hosni Mhanna.

The strike on the building on Al Wahda street, in the centre of the city, was not the first time the municipality had been targeted by Israeli bombardment, said Mr Mhanna.

The municipality is responsible for services such as rubbish removal, supplying clean water and repairing sewers, Mr Mhanna said, stressing the importance of this work at a time of deteriorating living conditions and the collapse of basic services in the war-ravaged enclave.

The continued attack on personnel and facilities “threatens a major catastrophe and jeopardises the municipality's ability to continue its minimal operations to meet the people's needs”, he warned.

“The municipality has lost more than 60 employees during the war, most of whom were killed in Israeli attacks while on duty,” Mr Mhanna said.

Since October 7, Israel has also destroyed 125 municipality vehicles, he said, but “the most significant losses have been human lives”.

Gaza was already struggling to dispose of about 2,000 tonnes of waste generated each day before the war. Now a lack of rubbish collection vehicles and the fuel to operate them has made the problem worse, according to humanitarian agencies.

In addition to displacement, destruction of medical facilities and scarcity of food, Gazans are now having to deal with the stench from rotting rubbish, which has become a breeding ground for disease-spreading pests.

Attacks on municipality workers and facilities make it even more difficult to address the issue.

“The municipality demands an immediate investigation into this crime committed against relief workers who are protected under international law,” Mr Mhanna said.

He also called “for international intervention to protect the teams and their life-saving work”.

Israeli strikes targeted multiple areas of Gaza on Friday, with heavy fighting reported in Rafah.