Gaza Health: The Strip’s water is unsafe and the lives of residents are in danger

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza warned that residents of the Strip are drinking unsafe water, due to the Israeli occupation preventing the introduction of chlorine or any alternative to it to treat water, stressing that the lives of residents are “at risk.”

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza revealed, on Saturday, that all residents of the Strip drink “unsafe” water as a result of the Israeli occupation not allowing the entry of materials to treat it.

The Ministry explained, in a post on the Telegram platform, that “with the public health laboratory shut down and the inability to test drinking water, all citizens of the Gaza Strip are drinking unsafe water that puts their lives at risk.”

She pointed out that this is due to the Israeli occupation not allowing the introduction of “chlorine” (for sterilization) or any alternative to it to treat drinking water.

The occupation continued to obstruct the delivery of necessary aid and basic materials to the people of the besieged Gaza Strip, despite the decisions of the International Court of Justice, ordering it to ensure the unhindered flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that cases of meningitis and hepatitis were detected due to sewage overflow among the displaced and the lack of safe drinking water.

In a statement later on Saturday, the Ministry warned of the spread of many diseases and epidemics as a result of the overflow of sewage, the accumulation of waste in the streets and among the tents of the displaced, and the spread of reptiles and insects, in light of the high temperature, which threatens the occurrence of a health disaster.

The Gaza Strip is experiencing catastrophic conditions resulting from Israel's ongoing war since last October 7, which resulted in more than 112,000 martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, famine and massive destruction of infrastructure, according to Palestinian and UN data.

Since the beginning of the war, Israel has cut off supplies of electricity, water, fuel, food and medicine to the residents of Gaza, and bombed bakeries, factories, stores, water stations and tanks.

Repeatedly, the municipalities of the Gaza Strip have warned that large parts of the areas will be flooded with (untreated) wastewater, as a result of Israel’s targeting of the main sewage lines and networks.