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Pulling the plug on the Gaza Strip's main desalination and water treatment plant has increased the risk of sewage water flooding into civilian areas, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned.
Israel on Sunday cut off electricity that powers the South Gaza Desalination Plant that had been able to supply up to 18,000 cubic metres of water of drinking quality a day since it was reconnected in November last year – 13 months after it was first cut off.
“Without electricity, the plant can only provide about 2,500 cubic metres of water per day and the amount of drinking water available in southern Gaza will be substantially reduced, affecting approximately 600,000 people in Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis,” the UN said in its latest situation report.
ICRC spokesman in Gaza Hisham Mhanna said the decision, compounded by Israel's total blockade on aid, could threaten public health.
“The trucks carrying everything essential on them don’t come in any more and now there is no longer water treatment for desalination, there is less fresh water and less wastewater treated which can’t be pushed or flushed into the Mediterranean Sea, even if untreated,” he told The National.
“This means that there’s a risk of flooding, if it rains or there’s an overproduction of untreated wastewater, this is a major public health risk that’s inevitable if it continues to be dysfunctional.”
With no equipment coming in to Gaza to rehabilitate pumping stations or fix the infrastructure network that has been largely destroyed over the past 16 months of Israel's blockade, bombardment and invasion of Gaza, fewer families have access to any clean drinking water.
While the entry of aid did significantly rise during the first phase of a ceasefire which began on January 19 and expired on the first day of Ramadan, March 1, coinciding with a total blockade on aid, Mr Mhanna has said the current situation is gradually getting back to what it was during the active armed hostilities.
The ICRC, and the UN have both told The National that needs during the ceasefire were so high that aid and urgent supplies could not be stockpiled and were disseminated as soon as they entered the Gaza Strip.
“Now, you witness a scarcity in fresh food items like fruits and vegetables, and many bakeries have had to close, especially those who are running on cooking gas which is lacking,” he said.
Five out of eight bakeries in Khan Younis have had to shut down because of the cooking gas crisis, he said. So far, there is some wheat flour available, crucial in general and particularly during the month of fasting.
But with supplies running low, high demand and no wheat, fuel or gas entering the strip, a bread crisis is on the horizon, Mr Mhanna said.
“As long as the crossings are closed, the ramifications will be revealed day by day.”
