*"Israel is exterminating life in Gaza, and making the conditionsunlivable," said one public health advocate. "Those supporting Israelare supporting genocide."* by Julia Conley, Common Dreams, July 18 https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-gaza-water-2668772742
Since Israel began its bombardment and near-total blockade on humanitarian aid in Gaza almost 10 months ago, accounts of Palestinians spending hours each day searching for clean water and images of young children hauling jugs to fill up have been seen across the world, as aid groups document what Oxfam calls Israel's "water war crimes" in a new report of the same name. The 66-page report, released Wednesday, documents how since October, Israel has systematically reduced the water available in Gaza by 94%, with just 4.74 liters per resident obtainable each day—less than a third of the recommended minimum amount in emergencies. With Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's announcement in October of a "complete siege" on Gaza—home to 2.3 million people, about half of whom are children—Israel began not only blocking humanitarian aid including water deliveries from its national water company, Mekorot, but also commenced air and ground attacks on Gaza's water infrastructure. An average of five of Gaza's water and sanitation sites have been taken out of service every three days, Oxfam found, reducing water production from sources in the Gaza Strip by 84% by late May. Gaza City, the enclave's most populous city before it was largely destroyed by the bombardment, has lost 88% of its water wells. With Israel blocking fuel deliveries as well as food, medical, and other necessary aid, 100% of the city's water desalination plants have been put out of service, making it impossible to treat seawater and brackish water to make it safe to drink. Seventy percent of sewage pumps and 100% of wastewater treatment plants have also been destroyed throughout the enclave. . . .. Israel's "weaponizing of water," said Oxfam water and sanitation specialist Lama Abdul Samad, "is already having deadly consequences" for people in Gaza. Sewage-contaminated water contains pathogens that can cause cholera, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and other easily preventable diseases. By late May, according to the report, 727,909 people had reported cases of water- and sanitation-related diseases, including 485,000 cases of acute diarrhea—the third-leading cause of death among children worldwide. . . . -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#31202): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/31202 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/107426846/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
