Gaza City municipality warns of deepening hunger crisis amid dwindling water supply

By Hosni Nadim

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - The Gaza City municipality has voiced deep concern over the rapidly worsening hunger crisis claiming the lives of many Palestinians, amid a drastic reduction in water supply to a mere two liters per person daily.

“We caution against further deaths due to hunger and thirst in northern Gaza, should the severe humanitarian crisis persist,” municipal spokesman Husni Mahna told Anadolu.

Mahna emphasized the crucial role of food and relief aid reaching Gaza and the north but highlighted its “inadequacy in meeting citizens' needs.”

Regarding water supply, the spokesman said that the per capita allocation in Gaza City has dwindled to only two liters daily, down from 90 liters "before the genocide war."

The Palestinian official attributed this severe shortage to extensive damage inflicted on water facilities by intense Israeli targeting of municipal infrastructure.

He revealed that the Israeli army destroyed 40 water wells, 9 reservoirs, 42 kilometers (26.1 miles) of water networks, and 500 different-sized stopcocks, exacerbating the crisis.

Mahna pointed out that Gaza City has not received any fuel supplies since early November, stressing the urgency of providing municipalities with the necessary fuel for water pumping, sewage treatment, waste collection, and opening streets blocked by rubble.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by the Palestinian group Hamas in which some 1,200 people were killed.

Nearly 31,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 72,700 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul