Sewage overflows add to plight of Palestinians in besieged Gaza

By Ramzi Mahmoud

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Sewage overflows in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip are adding to the suffering of Palestinian residents, already struggling under an Israeli blockade that has left them on the verge of starvation.

A massive spill of sewage is overflowing across the alleys of the town of Jabalia as wastewater treatment plants have stopped operations due to the Israeli bombardment.

“The situation is catastrophic in Jabalia,” Mohsen Abu Faraj, 34, told Anadolu. “Drinking water is contaminated by sewage waste, causing an outbreak of diseases among us.”

“Children in Jabalia suffer from various diseases as a result of the overflowing of sewage in our area,” Abu Faraj said.

Unpleasant smells from sewage are sharp across the besieged town.

“If we don’t die from Israeli attacks, we will die from contaminated water,” he said.

Israel has waged a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since a Hamas attack last October which killed some 1,200 people.

More than 31,300 people have since been killed and 73,100 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Palestinian enclave, leaving its nearly 2.3 million population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

- Epidemics

Namer Abdelwahed, 46, said the sewage overflows have caused an outbreak of epidemics in Jabalia.

“My daughter is sick, and many other children are suffering from diseases caused by contaminated water and sewage overflowing,” he added.

In January, the Palestinian Environment Quality Authority estimated that 66% of Gaza’s population suffers from waterborne diseases, including cholera, chronic diarrhea, and intestinal diseases.

“Israel has destroyed more than 70% of water wells suitable for drinking and use since last October,” Mazen Al-Najjar, head of Jabalia Municipality, told Anadolu.

“Municipal crews have stopped providing services to residents after 23 municipal vehicles were destroyed in Israeli attacks last week,” he added.

He said Jabalia residents use contaminated water extracted through primitive methods.

“This has led to an outbreak of infectious diseases that we have never experienced before,” he said.

Al-Najjar said there are 40 refugee camps in Jabalia amid massive destruction from Israeli attacks in the nearby towns of Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.

He appealed to international and human rights institutions to urgently intervene to provide food, fuel, and medicine to Palestinian residents in Gaza.

“Gaza’s population is suffering a real famine amid severe shortages of food as a result of the Israeli siege.”

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while most 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, which in 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 Rania Abu Shamala​​​​​​​ in Istanbul