"A report published by Oxfam International said, 'Palestinians in Gaza remember a time when almost everyone could drink clean water from the tap. Now less than 4% of fresh water is drinkable and the surrounding sea is polluted by sewage. Yet the international community is failing to do enough to protect the health and dignity of almost 2mn people who have nowhere else to go.'
The report added Gaza’s water and sanitation crisis is escalating dangerously, with clean water increasingly scarce and almost a third of households not connected to a sanitation system.
Last week’s shutdown of Gaza’s only functioning power plant creates even more urgency, with the water utility warning that it does not have the fuel to run water and sanitation facilities when the power is off.
Water pollution is among the factors causing a dramatic increase in kidney problems in the Gaza Strip, Dr Abdallah al-Kishawi said, with a 13-14% increase every year in the number of patients admitted with kidney problems to Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital.
Israel’s blockade of Gaza severely limits materials from entering, making it incredibly difficult to develop water and sanitation infrastructure to meet the needs of a growing population."
