Palestinians under Israeli siege in north Gaza going days without clean water
Israeli forces have repeatedly destroyed much of Gaza’s water infrastructure. They have also severely restricted the flow of aid into Gaza, including fuel needed to operate water pumps for wells.
This has resulted in Palestinians going days without access to clean water, particularly in Gaza City where Israel’s siege continues for 100 days.
“The water truck hasn’t entered this area for the past five days. If any water comes, it will be a miracle from God,” Ibtihal Hamada, a resident, told Al Jazeera. “Previously they used to bring us water from the wells, but now there isn’t any fuel to operate the wells.”
Another resident, Khloud Abu al-Khier, said: “We used to risk our lives walking long distances to get water. I lost my two children while we were filling bottles with water because Israeli forces targeted the water truck. It’s really hard for me to carry the water to the third floor and I have no help because my husband was martyred in Rafah.”
Even children are not spared.
“We haven’t had water since the day before yesterday. We have to get barrels to get enough water for the coming days,” said Zaja Abu al-Khier, a child whose limbs have been hurting trying to carry water on the days they do manage to get access to some.
“Literally, we haven’t had a single drop of water for days, and we are very grateful because today we have water. My hands and arms hurt because of carrying the heavy water.”
Palestinians in north Gaza enduring ‘unimaginable’ conditions
Conditions in northern Gaza after 100 days of siege are “just simply unimaginable”, says Shaina Low, Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) Communications Adviser in Palestine.
People have very little water and food, while aid is being denied, Low said.
“Between October 6th, when the siege began, and December 31, the UN attempted to make 165 trips to northern Gaza,” she told Al Jazeera, speaking from Amman, Jordan. “149 of those were outright denied. The remaining 16 were impeded.”
Despite the humanitarian situation and the relentless attacks, Palestinians remain there due to uncertainty over whether it is safe to flee, said Low.
Others, meanwhile, are disabled, or too old to flee, while “some people are committed to staying in their homes and do not want to leave because they believe that they have a right to stay there – and under international humanitarian law, they are still protected even if they’ve been told to flee,” the adviser said.
Men and boys have also been detained while trying to evacuate Gaza City, she said. “They’re fearful of what future awaits them no matter where they are.”
Sometimes, NRC does not have aid to distribute, but it is also there to provide other types of services, like water trucking, she said.
“Our teams are also not immune to the suffering that the people of Gaza are facing,” said Low. “We had one staff member who lost over 120 members of her family back in November, but she remains committed to going out and doing her job, working with children, making sure that they’re getting the type of psychosocial support that they need.”
Scenes of destruction in northern Gaza
Palestinian doctor treats children despite own injury
Palestinian doctor Khaled al-Saedni, whose leg was amputated after being wounded in an Israeli attack, walks with an artificial limb to check on patients and injured people at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza Strip.
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