GAZA, (PIC)
The Deir al-Balah Municipality, in central Gaza Strip, announced that Israel has cut off electricity to the two water desalination plants, which supply about 70% of the residents of the Deir al-Balah area with water.
The municipality added, in a statement on Monday, that “the two plants together produce about 20,000 cubic meters of desalinated water daily.”
It warned that “the continuation of this situation portends a real disaster to the residents, which necessitates that everyone must shoulder their humanitarian and moral responsibilities to save the people of Deir al-Balah from this serious crisis.”
For his part, the Director General of Planning, Water and Sanitation in the Gaza Municipality, Maher Ashour Salem, warned that “the amount of water currently available in the Strip does not exceed 25% of normal quantities,” noting that “more than 70% of water had been lost due to the destruction of the supply lines.”
He added in press remarks on Monday that the situation could become more dangerous if Israel cuts off the water of Mekorot (Israel’s water company) which represents 80% of the water currently available, which will severely affect domestic use, hospitals and shelters, amid almost non-existent alternative water sources as a result of the destruction of more than three-quarters of the water wells in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli decision came at a time when the Gaza Strip is facing a worsening humanitarian crisis as the Israeli aggression that lasted for more than 15 months and the continuous bombing have caused a near-total paralysis of the infrastructure, especially the water sector.
