The Gaza Gaza Desalinization Plant could run out of pure water after Israel breaks down power
The Palestinians in Gaza could be out of pure drinking water in a few days after Israel cut off the electricity supply into the territory, which drastically pierced operations in the water desaltination plant.
Omar Shatat, Deputy Director of the Coastal Municipalities of Voda, said that the Palestinians in the central and southern areas of Gaza rely on the Desalinization Plant in Deir El-Balah for clean water.
“There will be a big fight for water supply,” Shatat told CBC News on Monday from the city of Gaza. “We need a solution. Drinking water is the basis of life.”
Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen announced on Sunday that he was ordered by Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) not to sell electricity. Cohen said that this means of executing the pressure on the Palestinian militant group of Hamas to release the remaining hostages in the midst of the interruption of the fire between Israel and Hamas.
About 400,000 people in the affected areas will no longer be able to rely on the water from the plant, which now uses Benzen to work – which could last in a few days, Shatat states. About 50 percent of the plant water was drinking water that was clean to drink, he said.
Before the power was interrupted on Sunday, the plant secured about 18,000 cubic meters of water daily. It is now able to secure only 3000 cubic meters of water daily as it still runs on benzene.
The Gazans largely relied on spare generators and solar energy for electricity after Israel suspended their power supply after the Hamas on October 7, 2023, leaving most of the devastated enclaves in the dark.
Hamas spokesman Hamas Hazzem Qassem said that the Desalinization Plant – which is the only one with the Dalekovod for Israel – was delivered with little electricity before it was interrupted on Sunday.
“This decision shows that interest is [Israel] He does not pay attention to any humanitarian or international law, “Qassem told CBC News on Monday.
Under International humanitarian lawIsrael, as an occupying force, is required to ensure that the basic needs of Gazan, including food and water, were met.
The decision is ‘catastrophic’
The water infrastructure was destroyed in the territory in the middle of a 17 -month war, which interfered with the delivery of pure water and fuel to operate the water purification plant in Gaza.
Mohammad Thabet, a spokesman for the electricity distribution company in Gaza, said the last decision of Reuters Israel, Gazana will undergo “risks for environmental and health protection”.
“The decision is catastrophic. The municipalities will now be obliged to let the water sewage into the sea, which can result in the risks of the environment and health that be transcended by the borders of the gauze,” said Thabet.
He noted that there was not enough fuel to manage generators in a stand -up in desalinization and sewage facilities, adding that the existing generators were outdated and difficult to function.
The Israeli move to interrupt the power supply to Gaza comes one week after blocked the entry of goods into the territory, part of a worse conflict over a ceasefire that has stopped fighting for the last seven weeks.
Assistance, blockage of food forces to close bakery
The suspension of the goods entering Gaza took a toll on the Palestinian enclave.
Intended for the pressure of the HAMA -au in conversations about the interruption of fire, the suspension is applied to imports of food, drugs and fuel. Hamas describes this measure as a “collective punishment” and insists that he will not push himself into concessions in discussions.
The UN -UNRWA Palestinian Refugee Agency said that the decision to stop humanitarian aid threatens the lives of civilians exhausted 17 months of “brutal” war, adding that most of the 2.3 million people of Gaza depend on help.
Israel says that he will continue to block all the humanitarian aid by entering Gaza, unless Hamas agrees to expand the first phase of the trial agreement, which expired on Saturday. Hamas wants to move directly to phase 2 of the original agreement, which includes all Israeli forces that have withdrawn from Gaza.
Nasser Al-Ajrami, head of the Gaze Bakers union, told Reuters that six of 22 bakeries can still be working in the enclave already closed after they have run out of gas cooking.
“The remaining bakeries can be closed in a week or so if they run out of diesel or flour unless the transition has reopened to allow the goods to flow,” he said.
“22 The bakeries were not enough to meet the needs of the people. With six now closed them, this would increase the demand for bread and worse the situation,” he added.
This move also led to an increase in the price of essential foods as well as fuel, forcing many to the meal of its meals.
Elected from her destroyed house and living in a tent in Khan Younis, 40-year-old Ghada al-Rakab said she was struggling to provide basic needs. The mother bakes the goods for her family and neighbors, sometimes inhabiting a makeshift clay oven at a nominal price.
“What kind of life do we live in? No electricity, no water, no life. We don’t even live a real life. What else is left in life? May God take us and rest us,” Al-Rakab said.
