UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini says water has become a matter of life and death in Gaza. People are forced to drink impure water from wells, while clean drinking water has also started running out in UN offices.
Hosni Mohna, coordinator of the Union of Gaza Municipalities, said that despite Israel's opening of the lines, there is still a water crisis in the Strip, because pumping water requires electricity, which is not available (Independent Arabia Maryam). Abu Daqqa)
Little Joan insists her father give her some water . The father realized that the little girl could not bear the thirst. He immediately brought a 10 cm medical syringe and took out drops of fresh water from the bottle and poured it into his daughter's mouth.
The girl's father, Ibrahim, is forced to do this, as there is not much water in the house. On the third day of the Israeli attacks in Gaza , Ibrahim's house has only 15 liters of water left, of which five liters are for drinking and the rest for other uses.
Ibrahim wants to maintain this meager amount of water for as long as possible, but it does not seem possible.
He says: 'Getting water is a difficult and laborious task. Water is essential to life and cannot be wasted like electricity, internet and fuel. So I personally supervise the use of every drop and do not allow anyone to dispose of it.'
The Palestinian territory has been suffering from a severe water crisis for three weeks after Israel cut off the supply of drinking water to Gaza.
Ibrahim got a few liters of water three days ago after being deprived of water for a week. So they are trying to formalize its use in their home.
Ibrahim, who faced numerous difficulties and challenges in his life, was able to fetch water with great difficulty.
He recalled: 'After running out of drinking water, I went to the shop to buy mineral water, but I couldn't find any bottles. Then I realized that we would be thirsty for water and I understood that this war is being waged on a policy of starvation.'
A journey of discovery
Anrahim went out in search of water at six o'clock in the morning carrying an empty bottle and plastic container.
They walked in the streets of the city for five kilometers. At one point they saw some people carrying plastic bottles or cans and realized that a water well was nearby.
Residents of Gaza depend on three sources for water consumption, the first of which is water from Israeli lines, with an annual volume of 18 million cubic meters and is used only for drinking.
Another is underground wells, but they are totally unfit for human consumption due to their high salinity. However, the water obtained from these wells can be used for purposes other than drinking.
A third source is the three UN desalination plants in the Mediterranean Sea, which together produce 5 million cubic meters of water annually.
As a result of the Israeli siege of Gaza, all of these sources have been completely cut off, as fuel is not available in Gaza to pump water from wells or run desalination plants.
Gazans have historically relied on wells dug next to their homes for water, and these wells are still the only source of water in the Gaza Strip.
Near one of these wells, Ibrahim even got into a fight with people queuing up to get a few liters of salty and a little fresh water.
After several hours they managed to fill their plastic containers with 30 liters of excess water.
He said: 'We will use it to clean dishes, wash clothes, shower and use it in the bathroom.'
Ibrahim considers himself lucky to have found some water and is fully aware that it may not be possible to do so again no matter how hard he tries.
He adds: 'If I am lucky again, I shall escape death by thirst for a little longer.'
Ibrahim saves him by stricting the use of water in his house.
He says: 'The preference is to drink water in minimum and limited quantities and not waste it even in washing clothes, bathing.'
According to the UN: 'People are dying of thirst,' and UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini says: 'Water in Gaza has become a matter of life and death. There people are drinking impure water from wells and the UN base is running out of clean drinking water.'
They are no longer in luxury
Zahidi al-Ghariz, assistant chairman of the government's emergency committee in Gaza, says: 'The majority of Gazans no longer have the luxury of asking about water quality and many are forced to drink salty, unhealthy water. For all other uses, including drinking, per capita water per day has gone up to half a liter, compared to 22 liters per day before the war.
He added: 'Currently we can provide 15,000 cups a day, while the people of Gaza need about 3 million liters a day. In this situation, there are places where people have started drinking sea water.
In this situation, Israel's Assistant Energy Minister Yisrael Katz says, "We have restarted the water supply only in the southern part of Gaza and this will encourage citizens to gather there while Israel and Hamas in Gaza City." will attack the locations of
But Hosni Mohna, coordinator of the Gaza Municipalities Union, confirmed that "despite Israel opening the lines, there is still a water crisis, because the citizens do not have electricity to pump water."
There is no holiday on New Year's Eve during the Chinese New Year holiday, and people are hotly discussing the homophony of "New Year's Eve"
China has officially released a statutory holiday and holiday compensation plan for 2024. The Spring Festival holiday has been extended to eight days starting on the first day of the Lunar New Year, instead of starting on New Year's Eve as in the past. Many people complained that they could not reunite with their families on New Year's Eve. People compare it with the fact that Yuan Shikai canceled the Lantern Festival and changed it to the Lantern Festival after he became emperor. It is also said that "New Year's Eve" has a homophonic pronunciation, but official scholars' explanation is "return to tradition."
The annual Spring Festival is a traditional Chinese folk festival and an official statutory holiday. On Wednesday (25th), the General Office of the State Council of China issued a notice on some holiday arrangements in 2024, with 11 statutory holidays throughout the year. Next year’s Spring Festival holiday will start from February 10th (the first day of the Lunar New Year) and end on February 17th (the seventh day of the Lunar New Year), plus a day off for a total of 8 days; there will be no holiday on February 9th, New Year’s Eve, and February 4th and Work on these two Sundays, February 18th. Some netizens left a message: This is equivalent to the Spring Festival holiday being 6 days on, 8 days off, and 6 days off again. It is really a big gift package with landmines.
Zhang Jia, an individual businessman in Nanchang, Jiangxi, said in an interview with this station on Thursday: "In previous years, the holiday started from New Year's Eve and extended to the sixth day of the Lunar New Year. The fifth day of the Lunar New Year is to give away the God of Wealth. After giving away the God of Wealth, you can open your business. This year, I will continue to work on New Year's Eve. I think it is quite What’s funny, is it a homophone for (New Year’s Eve)? I don’t know. This is not to remind everyone. This adds a lot of trouble to everyone.”
Netizens are hotly discussing the homophony of the word "New Year's Eve"
Chinese netizens are hotly discussing the government's decision to exclude New Year's Eve from being a legal holiday next year. Related news has been widely circulated on Weibo, and some comment areas have been closed. Official scholars’ explanation is “returning to tradition.” Before 2007, the Spring Festival holiday always started on the first day of the lunar month, and the common people celebrated the New Year from the first to the 15th day of the lunar month. However, people working in other places criticized the authorities for ignoring their desire to have New Year's Eve dinner with their families. "People value the two most important days of the year: New Year's Eve and New Year's Day."
Hunan netizen Cheng Xiaofeng told this station that people are speculating about the possibility of canceling the statutory holiday of "New Year's Eve": "There are many rumors. Judging from the current economic situation, it is unlikely that companies will work overtime on New Year's Eve. There is another saying that this New Year's Eve It has a homophonic pronunciation, and that’s the point. They are very taboo about this kind of thing now, so working on New Year’s Eve should be for this reason, not to revitalize the economy.”
During the epidemic, someone was caught setting off firecrackers on New Year’s Eve
Mr. Wang, a Beijing resident, said in an interview with this station: There is no holiday on New Year's Eve. Next year's Spring Festival holiday will be from the first to the seventh day of the lunar month, which disrupts his holiday schedule: "New Year's Eve is the most important holiday. How come these people who make the holiday don't understand human feelings?" And culture? During the Spring Festival of 2021 and 2022, some people in Beijing said at night that firecrackers were set off today on New Year's Eve, and (the authorities) started arresting people. They were extremely empty."
On the overseas social platform So the Lantern Festival was cancelled, so now the New Year’s Eve holiday is canceled because..."
According to public information, after Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor, when the Lantern Festival was approaching in 1916, Yuan issued an imperial edict: the name Lantern Festival would be canceled and renamed Shangyuan Festival. At that time, the people didn't understand what it meant. Later, when someone interpreted it, they finally understood the reason: Yuanxiao, isn't that "Yuan Xiao"?