The Water and Natural Resources Authority in the Gaza Strip warned on Sunday of a major shortage in drinking water as a result of the frequent power cuts.
Deputy head of the Water Authority Mazen al-Banna told a press conference on Sunday that the Gaza Strip “is suffering from severe water shortage and pollution due to the depletion of the underground reservoir which is no longer drinkable”.
Banna stated that many donor countries stopped supporting the Gaza Strip after Hamas won the legislative elections in 2006 but they began to deal with local institutions since the beginning of 2012 by funding some desalination projects.
The Water Authority has drawn many development plans based mainly on the construction of sewage treatment plants and the establishment of seawater desalination plants according to Banna. However the blockade and the absence of the financial support stand as a major obstacle to these projects.
Banna held Israel fully responsible for the water crisis the Palestinian people are suffering in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip noting that 90% of the water resources are under Israeli control and pointed out that an Israeli settler gets 7 times the amount of water provided to a Palestinian citizen.
He called for lifting the siege imposed on Gaza which has been tightened recently through the latest measures taken by the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas and warned of its negative impact on the various aspects of life.
