Destroyed desalination plant worsens Gaza’s drinking water crisis

Gaza City, Gaza Strip – Zuhair al-Nasr walks through Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood carrying two water containers, looking for somewhere to fill them.

Key points

• According to Mahmoud, it was the only desalination plant serving much of Sheikh Radwan and had been providing free desalinated water to 17 shelters and collective centres.
• As it continues to flout the October ceasefire accord it agreed to, but then, on August 24, Israel bombed the desalination plant.
• Without the plant, Zuhair and Palestinians throughout Sheikh Radwan have been forced to go back to travelling long distances to secure water.
• Mahmoud now estimates his losses at no less than $500, 000.
• Nada Arouqi, a 36-year-old mother of four living in the Mukhabrat area in northwest Gaza City, notes water trucks often only reach her neighbourhood two days a week.

In practice, the 74-year-old is not sure where he will find drinking water for his family.

For the past week, he notes, he has barely been able to fill the containers. The water he has managed to obtain comes from a groundwater well rather than the desalinated water he employed to rely on. Only weeks ago, Zuhair did not have to search like this.

Notably, a newly built desalination plant near the tents where he lives had brought clean drinking water to his area. Pipes had been connected, allowing residents to access water around the clock.

For regarding two months, Zuhair states, the plant created managing life during Israel's genocidal war on Gaza a little bit easier.

Zuhair lives with his sizeable family – he has 13 children and more than 20 grandchildren – in a tent as his home in Beit Hanoon, north of Gaza City, was destroyed by Israel during the war.

Securing water for the family is a vital daily task, and the desalination plant meant that he no longer had to carry water over long distances.

In practice, the strike destroyed the plant and additionally damaged nearby displacement tents and residential structures.

"We were comfortable, " Zuhair notes. "We're suffering now. The water is the lifeline of our life. For drinking, cooking, washing and bathing." When water brought life back.

Zuhair notes his neighbourhood had become cleaner and more lively after the desalination plant arrived earlier this year. A steady and reliable source of clean water had encouraged individuals to return and resettle the area. "Where there is water, there is life, " he notes.

For families who had already lost their homes and been displaced by the war, the plant offered a rare sense of stability. But the relief lasted only regarding two months.

When residents received an Israeli forced evacuation order, Zuhair notes, he hoped the desalination plant would not be the target.

Zuhair remains bewildered by its destruction. He points out that the facility was a civilian water station serving families in an area already facing a severe drinking-water shortage.

He rejects Israeli allegations that the site was being applied for purposes other than supplying water, saying claims that it was next to a weapons storage facility were false.

"Why destroy a place that was providing people with water?" Zuhair asks. A plant built for a thirsty neighbourhood.

Mohammed Mahmoud, 53, the owner of the now-destroyed desalination plant, notes the facility had been operating for only two months before it was attacked.

Mahmoud now estimates his losses at no less than $500, 000. The desalination machinery and equipment alone cost regarding $250, 000.

For context, the plant had been built using equipment and materials that were already tough and expensive to obtain during the war. The destruction came as Gaza's wider drinking-water crisis was already deepening.

In practice, a survey cited by the United Nations discovered that 90 percent of Gaza's population was experiencing frequent and unpredictable disruptions in access to safe, clean and reliable water for drinking, cooking and hygiene in early July. In Gaza City, the figure was even higher, at 92 percent.

Regarding 75 percent of Gaza's population continued to rely on water provided by trucks as their primary source of drinking water at the end of July, with humanitarian partners delivering more than 20, 000 cubic metres a day to thousands of collection points. Yet even that system is struggling to meet demand.

UNICEF documented in August that up to 63 percent of residents were unable to collect the minimum six litres (1.5 gallons) of water per person per day recommended for drinking and cooking.

For families in northern Gaza, the disappearance of another local source means greater dependence on a system that is already struggling to reach them. When the trucks do not come.

Nada Arouqi, a 36-year-old mother of four living in the Mukhabrat area in northwest Gaza City, notes water trucks often only reach her neighbourhood two days a week. Sometimes, she notes, they do not come for an entire week.

Now, whenever a truck arrives, she has to create the most of it. "It has become an emergency situation, " she notes.

She fills six containers and carries them from the collection point back to where her family lives.

There is no separate supply for bathing or cleaning, leaving the family dependent on the same water for drinking and other daily needs.

When the water does not come, she has to purchase drinking water.

For context, the shortage has additionally triggered concern concerning the cleanliness of the water that comes via the trucks.

Nada notes one of her children developed a stomach illness and spent three or four days in hospital. She notes doctors informed her the illness was related to the water.

For a family already struggling to secure enough water, buying drinking water is another expense they can barely afford.

Her mother-in-law, 60-year-old Maryam Arouqi. This person lives in the same displacement tent, describes another consequence of the shortage: the physical toll of bringing water home.

She notes she has to refill a substantial household barrel three or four times a day since her family depends on it throughout the day.

There is no municipal water supply or household groundwater pump available to her, she notes.

"I have to carry water, " Maryam notes. "My body and bones are collapsing because of this."

She describes tendon injuries, challenges with her hands, chest pain and high blood pressure, and states she has been advised to stop the strenuous work.

But stopping is not an option when water is needed for an entire household. She and her grandchildren keep walking with empty containers, looking for somewhere to fill them.

"Our struggle for water never ends. Who can live without water? Water is life, " she notes.

In short, destroyed desalination plant worsens Gaza's drinking water crisis is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.