67% of water, sanitation infrastructure destroyed in Gaza since Oct. 7: UN refugee agency

By Mohammad Sio

ISTANBUL (AA) - The UN Relief Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) said Wednesday that “67% of water, sanitation facilities and infrastructure have been destroyed or damaged” in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7.

The agency emphasized the urgent need for action.

“As infectious diseases continue to spread and temperatures rise, the lack of hygiene and dehydration pose a severe threat to the health of people across Gaza,” it wrote on X.

UNRWA plays a vital role in providing life-saving services to registered Palestine refugees; however, the recent destruction of essential infrastructure in Gaza exacerbates an already precarious situation, leaving many without access to clean water and sanitation facilities.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 37,400 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 85,400 others injured, according to local health authorities.

More than eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.