Gaza: Dying of Thirst in the Deadly Heat

As the summer heat intensifies, thirst and water scarcity are casting their shadow over all aspects of life in all governorates of the Gaza Strip. This is a real crisis that has plagued citizens for nearly 20 months. According to UN statistics, 90% of them lack access to potable water, amid a near-total collapse of the water and sewage systems.

As soon as citizens hear the horns of water trucks, they begin to gather around them, carrying gallons, containers, and the remains of canned food. Each one jostles with the hope of filling their containers with water, which has become exhausting and tiring to obtain due to the severe scarcity of water resources. This is due to the occupation’s intransigence, its prevention of the entry of diesel and fuel, its power outages, and its deliberate targeting of wells and water sources, creating a state of thirst that parallels the state of famine the Strip is experiencing.

UNICEF spokesman James Elder announced that 60% of Gaza’s drinking water production facilities are out of service, exposing the population to the risk of a politically engineered drought. Elder said that children in the Gaza Strip will begin to die of thirst, and that we are far from emergency standards for drinking water. Man-made droughts can be reversed if fuel is available. He added that the fuel shortages caused by the blockade have led to the disruption of desalination and pumping stations, thus collapsing the water supply.