The Palestinians in the Gaza could no longer be a clean drinking water within a few days after lowering the territory, which drastically shortened the operation in a water relaxation system.
Omar Shatat, deputy director of the water suppliers of the coastal community, are based on the desalination plant in Deir El-Balah for clean water.
“There will be a big struggle for the supply of water,” Shatat told CBC News from Gaza City on Monday. “We need a solution. Drinking water is the basis of life.”
The Israeli Minister of Energy Eli Cohen announced on Sunday that he had ordered the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) not to sell electricity to Gaza. Cohen said it was a means to put pressure on the militant Palestinian group Hamas to free her remaining hostages in the middle of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Around 400,000 people in the affected areas can no longer rely on water from the facility, which now uses benzene to operate – and according to Shatat, this could end in several days. About 50 percent of the water that the plant delivered was drinking water that was clean for drinking, he said.
Before the power was cut off on Sunday, the work provided around 18,000 cubic meters of water every day. Now it can only provide 3,000 cubic meters of water every day because it continues to run on benzene.
The Gazans have largely rely on backup generators and solar energy for electricity after Israel had set up its power supply to Gaza strip on October 7, 2023 after the attacks led by Hamas and left a large part of the war-bound enclave in the dark.
Hazem Qassem, spokesman for Hamas, said the desalination system, which is the only one with a power line to Israel, was supplied with a little electricity before it was cut off on Sunday.
“This decision shows that the occupation (Israel) does not pay attention to humanitarian or international laws,” Qassem told CBC News on Monday.
According to international humanitarian law, Israel is obliged to ensure that the basic needs of the Gazans, including food and water, are fulfilled.
The decision is “catastrophic”
The water infrastructure was destroyed in the area in the middle of the 17-month war, which disabled the delivery of clean water and fuel for the operation of water treatment plants in Gaza Strip.
Mohammad Thabet, spokesman for the gaza electricity distribution company, told Reuters of Israel’s recent decision to subject the Gazan “environmental and health risks”.
“The decision is catastrophic. The municipalities will now be obliged to leave wastewater into the sea, which can lead to environmental and health risks that go beyond the limits of the Gaza Strip,” said Thabet.
He noted that there was not enough fuel to operate standby generators in desalination and wastewater plants, and added that the existing generators were outdated and hardly functional.
The step to cut off Israel to cut off its power supply to the Gaza Strip, a week after the entry of goods into the area has been carried out, part of a deteriorating patf situation over a ceasefire that has stopped fighting in the past seven weeks.
Help, food blockade forces bakery closures
The suspension of goods that enter the Gaza Strip has burdened the Palestinian enclave.
The suspension applies to food, medical and fuel imports to put Hamas under pressure. Hamas describes the measure as “collective punishment” and insists that it is not caused to make concessions during the discussions.
The UN Palestinian refugee authority Unrwa said that the decision to stop humanitarian aid threatens the life of civilians who are exhausted by 17 months “brutal” and added that most 2.3 million people in Gaza are dependent on help.
Israel says that it will continue to block all humanitarian aid in Gaza Strip, unless Hamas agrees to extend the first phase of the ceasefire contract that has expired on Saturday. Hamas wants to deal directly in phase 2 of the original agreement, which includes all Israeli forces that retire from the Gaza Strip.
Nasser Al-Ajrami, head of the Gaza Bakers’ Union, said Reuters that six of the 22 bakeries that were still able to work in the enclave had already closed after the cooking gas had run out of her.
“The remaining bakeries can end in a week if you assume diesel or flour, unless the intersection will be opened again so that the goods can flow,” he said.
“The 22 bakeries were not enough to meet people’s needs. With six of them, which were now closed, this would increase the demand for bread and worsen the condition,” he added.
The move has also led to an increase in the price of essential foods and fuel, which forced many to ration their meals.
The 40-year-old Ghada Al-Rakab, who lived from her destroyed house and in a tent in Khan Younis, said she fights to secure the basic needs. The mother of six years bakes some of them for their family and their neighbors and sometimes rented a temporary tone oven at a nominal price.
“What kind of life do we live? No electricity, no water, no life. We don’t even live a real life. What remains there in life? May God take us and let us rest,” said Al-Rakab.
