120,000 Gazans have no access to water

Some 120,000 people in the Gaza Strip have no access to water due to the damage left by last summer’s Israeli war on the Strip, official sources said.

The Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) said in a statement published today: “Around 120,000 people in the Gaza Strip are not connected to the water network and 23 per cent of the population is not connected to the sanitation network.”

As a result of damages and losses caused by the Israeli war which took place last summer, the water situation in the Gaza Strip is “extremely dangerous”, the organisation warned.

“One year after the war, the water situation is still bad and thousands are suffering from lack of access to clean and safe drinking water.”

CMWU estimated losses in the water and sanitation sector to be about $34 million, adding: “96 per cent of the underground aquifer is no longer fit for human consumption, forcing the population to allocate one-third of their income for buying water.”

Some 95 million litres of either raw or partially treated sewage were pumped into the sea negatively impacting the health of civilians, it warned.

The statement also emphasised that the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip has exacerbated the water crisis and disrupted the execution of 60 per cent of projects.