A ceasefire has enabled some Gazans to go back to their ruined homes without fear of Israeli airstrikes, but they have returned to a severe water crisis.
“We returned here and found no pumps, no wells. We did not find buildings or houses,” says 50-year-old farmer Bassel Rajab, a resident of the northern town of Beit Lahiya.
“We came and set up tents to shelter in, but there is no water. We don’t have water, we are suffering.”
Drinking, cooking and washing are a luxury in Gaza, 16 months after the start of the war between Israel and the Hamas terror group.
Rajab says he sometimes walks 16 kilometers (10 miles) in the hope of taking a shower in Gaza City.
Some Palestinians have dug wells in areas near the sea, or rely on salty tap water from Gaza’s only aquifer, contaminated with seawater and sewage.
The Palestinian Water Authority estimates that it will cost $2.7 billion to repair the water and sanitation sectors.
Palestinians walk past destroyed vehicles as they cross the Netzarim Corridor, making their way to the northern parts of the Gaza Strip on February 9, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinians were already facing a severe water crisis as well as shortages of food, fuel and medicine before the wells were destroyed in the war.
The Palestinian Water Authority says in a statement on its website that 208 out of 306 wells had been knocked out of service during the war and a further 39 were partially out of service.
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From the Liveblog of
Friday, February 14, 2025
