In the ongoing Palestinian ethnic cleansing, Israeli bombs and missiles are not only targeting citizens but are also threatening lives by attacking their water infrastructure. Previously, Israel was blocking access to water by cutting off electricity and fuel supplies that help power desalination plants and water pumps, but recent attacks have now rendered potable water unobtainable in Gaza City.
The inadequate provision of sanitary water worsens the suffering of the Gazans as it leads to various skin diseases, infectious diseases, impaired immune systems and malnutrition.
On 15 January, 465 days after the war began, Israel and Palestine reached a ceasefire agreement. Then on 2 March, 46 days after the ceasefire came into effect, Israeli authorities blocked all aid entering Gaza and 7 days later, on 9 March, cut off electricity. The lack of electricity, and subsequently fuel, decreased output from the main desalination plant in Khan Younis, a city in the South of the Gaza Strip, by 85 per cent – a drop from 17 million litres per day to 2.5 million litres.
Paula Navarro, water and sanitation coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, paints a desperate picture as he states that "for those who have endured relentless bombings, the suffering is made worse by a water crisis", expressing that people either have to "drink unsafe water", or have none at all. This inhumane choice between dehydration and disease is an intentional tactic by Israeli authorities to harm people spared by the bombings.
Water scarcity has allowed people the luxury of a bath only once every 10 days, with children developing scabies as a result and scratching their skin till it bleeds, which only further leads to the spread of infection. The war's implicit damage is no less cruel than the torture of death. Authorities continue to call for renewed ceasefire and an end to this vicious siege.
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