Attacks on drinking water reservoirs ‘strictly prohibited’ under humanitarian law, UN says
Under international humanitarian law, it is “strictly prohibited” to attack infrastructure essential to the survival of the civilian population, including water supplies, the UN Human Rights Office has said, referring to Israel’s attack on a drinking water reservoir for Palestinians in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
“It is indeed strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law to attack civilian objects,” spokesperson Jeremy Laurence told the Anadolu news agency. “Moreover, it is prohibited to attack objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as drinking water supplies,” Laurence added.
Earlier on Monday, the Israeli army admitted that its soldiers were responsible for the bombing of the water reservoir in Tal as-Sultan. According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, an investigation into the incident has been initiated.
However, Laurence said: “The Human Rights Office has received no information on any investigations by Israel into the specific incident of the destruction of the water reserve.”
WHO says vaccine access critical to halt rapid spread of polio in Gaza
Margaret Harris, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization, says a polio variant is spreading rapidly in Gaza due to lack of vaccination access.
“It’s actually a variant that developed originally a long time ago. … Wherever we see it pop up, we do a big vaccination response to it, and that usually shuts it down,” she told Al Jazeera from Geneva.
“But we have to have the security. We have to have the means of getting the vaccine into Gaza and to the children. Vaccines are no good if they’re sitting in a vial or sitting in a truck. So there is an answer, but the answer is we need a ceasefire.”
Rights group says thousands at risk due to Israel’s ‘weaponisation’ of water, hygiene
The Gaza-based Al Mezan Center for Human Rights has called for international support to help end Israel’s “weaponisation” of water and sanitation in the war-torn Gaza Strip where more than 1 million children are at risk.
“To prevent thousands of deaths, the international community must ensure Israel immediately ends its genocide, including the weaponization of water and sanitation facilities,” the rights groups said in a post on social media.
Al Mezan made the call for help following the Gaza Health Ministry’s announcement that the territory is now classified as a “polio epidemic zone” following the discovery of the virus in wastewater and sewage samples, though the disease was eradicated in Palestine years ago.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that a ceasefire was necessary to get the polio vaccine into Gaza and administered to the territory’s vulnerable children.
🚨 Over 1 million children in Gaza are at risk of dying if not vaccinated. To prevent thousands of deaths, the international community must ensure Israel immediately ends its genocide, including the weaponization of water and sanitationfacilities. https://t.co/3kRIqWoxNv
— Al-Mezan الميزان (@AlMezanCenter) July 29, 2024
