UPDATE: Families in Gaza are facing an escalating health crisis as they are forced to drink contaminated water amid severe shortages. Reports from the ground reveal that residents in displacement camps, like Muwasi, are struggling to access clean water, leading to alarming spikes in infectious diseases.
Just this week, a heat wave intensified conditions, with temperatures reaching a sweltering 35 degrees Celsius. Residents, including mothers like Rana Odeh, must stand in grueling lines for hours to collect murky water that they know could make their children sick. “We are forced to give it to our children because we have no alternative,” Odeh lamented, highlighting the desperate measures families are taking to survive.
According to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, health centers are now inundated with over 10,300 patients weekly suffering from diseases linked to contaminated water. The situation is deteriorating rapidly, with reports indicating that cases of acute watery diarrhea surged from 20 percent to 44 percent between February and July 2023, raising severe dehydration risks, according to UNICEF.
In Muwasi, hundreds of thousands endure relentless heat and limited water access. Families scramble for supplies from water trucks that arrive only every few days. Parents and children are often seen hauling water on donkey-drawn carts, rationing every drop for drinking, cooking, and washing. When water fails to arrive, some resort to filling bottles from the sea, exposing themselves to further health risks.
The ongoing conflict and restrictions on fuel imports have crippled Gaza’s ability to operate desalination plants, leading to a catastrophic decline in safe drinking water availability. Infrastructure damage and pollution have contaminated the aquifers, leaving the population reliant on increasingly brackish groundwater.
Aid organizations, like Oxfam, report that even those with rooftop tanks struggle to maintain sanitation, resulting in unsafe tap water that is yellow and potentially harmful. “Outside the tents it is hot and inside the tents, it is hot,” said Mahmoud al-Dibs, a father displaced from Gaza City. The dire conditions force families to consume whatever water they can find, regardless of its safety.
Mark Zeitoun, director general of the Geneva Water Hub, warned of the severe long-term health implications of drinking untreated water. “Untreated sewage mixes with drinking water, and you can get dysentery,” he explained. The fallout from ongoing water shortages poses not just an immediate health threat but also a longer-term burden on Gaza’s already overwhelmed healthcare system.
As temperatures continue to rise, the situation remains dire. Families are left to navigate a grim reality where the basic necessity of clean water is a daily struggle. The international community must take urgent action to address this humanitarian crisis, as the health and survival of countless individuals hang in the balance.
This crisis in Gaza serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for clean water access and the devastating impact of conflict on basic human rights. The world is watching, and immediate intervention is more crucial than ever.
