The Israeli regime recently attacked the northern strip, destroying the region's desalination plant, according to the Gaza Strip Water Authority.
According to the agency, its technical staff is working for the sixth day in a row to evaluate the damage brought about by the Israeli regime's attacks on northern Gaza, as well as the challenges in obtaining water and medical care due to the extensive destruction of roads, infrastructure, and residential areas.
Workers were able to visit the seawater desalination plant in northern Gaza and perform a preliminary technical evaluation of the damage, the water authority reported.
Furthermore, the Israeli army totally destroyed some of the power plant's major parts, including an inlet pipeline, two power generators, a pump, a return water line, five seawater supply wells, external fences, and outlet pumps.
The Water Authority reported that this is the only facility serving northern Gaza and the Gaza Valley area, supplying clean water to all neighborhoods in the northwestern part of Gaza City with a production capacity of 10,000 cubic meters per day. There is no other option to cover this amount, and drilling water wells is difficult due to the high salinity of the groundwater reservoir containing seawater in the western parts of the city.
The damage to the desalination plant exacerbates the critical water situation in Gaza, as this facility is the only safe and reliable source of drinking water for the population.
Use of water as a weapon of war
According to reports, water reserves in the Gaza Strip have decreased significantly since October 2023, from 18.5 million cubic meters to 13.8 million cubic meters.
This decrease has been described as part of the occupation’s criminal actions and its use of water as a weapon.
Efforts to distribute limited water to the northern, central and southern areas of Gaza continue to provide drinking water to the Gaza population.
Even before October 2023, the 2.3 million people who live in the Gaza Strip had insufficient access to water. According to UN estimates, the average Gazan now only has three liters of water per day for all of their needs after the Israeli regime's war on the Strip. This is in spite of the fact that each person needs at least 15 liters of water per day in accordance with the established standards.
More than 700 wells and desalination plants have been destroyed during Israel's war on the Gaza Strip, drastically lowering Gaza's water supply, according to statistics. Furthermore, the majority of the 65 sewage pumping stations and all five sewage treatment plants have been forced to close by the Zionist regime.