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For its part, the military has been forced to place three water treatment plants on the brink of permanent closure due to the fuel cutoff.
The power lines that carry electricity to Gaza’s major desalination stations were cut as well, after Israel put a blockade in place for aid in early March. These plants are critical to ensuring residents have access to safe drinking water. Although there has been recent slight easing of the blockade, fuel has not been allowed in, even though some drinking water has arrived in aid lorries Some 1.9 million people in need.
United Nations officials say that the continued absence of fuel is obstructing the production and transportation of clean water. In southern Gaza, the desalination plant is down 80% after its electricity was cut, but it still is able to produce thousands of litres a day. Jonathan Crickx, who went to the plant, said that now fuel is being consumed not just to manufacture water but to move it. He said trucks and other vehicles and even donkey carts have been transporting water but operations have become increasingly difficult as national supplies of fuel run low.
Deterioration of the health situation and increasing displacement
In Khan Younis, Raed al-Zaharneh, a father of four, said his family has been drinking salty water for months. “We know it’s undrinkable water, and we still drink it,” he said. “We’ve suffered stomach pain, diarrhoea, but we have endured. What do we do? We need to drink. There's no alternative.”
Gaza doctors say health problems associated with bad water are rising. In Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital, kidney specialist Dr Ghazi al-Yazji said he was treating more patients with infections and illnesses related to contaminated or salty water. Children are among the victims, although statistics are not available, he said. His department serves 220 patients who require kidney dialysis, and some have died recently as a result of the worsening water.
In the north, there were no fuel stocks — and just half the needed stocks came in last week — meaning more water well operations were shut, moving toward all supplies being shut down. In the south, 140,000 litres of fuel is required weekly to keep basic water, sanitation, and hygiene services running, yet the coalition has provided no fuel. This means that its operating hours are cut by more than 20 percent.
And the picture is being further complicated by new waves of displacement, with some 140,000 people fleeing from their homes on both sides of the lines of control. UN staff have attempted to extract fuel stocks from places such as Rafah, which is still a major target of the military campaign. But those efforts have stalled, because the initiatives need to be coordinated with Israeli authorities, and so far they have been frustrated. No new fuel has entered Gaza since the complete closure March 2.
If fuel deliveries are not immediately restored the humanitarian situation in Gaza is only likely to deteriorate with the health and lives of thousands more people at great risk.
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