Alwaght-Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip are facing an acute water crisis with more than 90 percent of its water being unfit for human consumption.
According to a report by RT, just one fresh water source exists today– a coastal aquifer beneath the ground that is shared with the Israeli regime and Egypt. But Gaza is situated downstream from territories occupied by the Israeli regime, and Palestinians accuse the regime state of using the situation to its advantage, employing water deprivation as a tactic against the civilian population.
The grim water statistics are part of a recent UN report on Gaza, which says the strip will become uninhabitable by 2020. A number of reasons compound the problems, according to the document by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
The Gaza Strip’s GDP dropped 15 percent in 2014, with 72 percent of households suffering extremely low food security and unemployment at a record high of 44 percent.
The UN says that 500,000 people have been displaced in Gaza as a result of last year's Israeli regime's war on the Palestinian territory More than 20,000 Palestinian homes were destroyed, and 148 schools and 15 hospitals and 45 primary health-care centers were severely damaged. Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
But worse still is when the populace is deprived of the prime source of life – water. Without it, no reconstruction and no rebuilding of lives can take place. Medicine, sanitation, hygiene and crucial facilities that depend on water all suffer.
Israeli regime's targeting of sewage treatment plants during past military aggressions resulted in raw sewage seepage into the ground and further contaminated the water resources. Most Gazans buy treated water from filtration stations. Hundreds of trucks carrying filtered water roam the streets of the tiny coastal enclave to provide people with safe drinking water.
Tests show that pollutants in Gaza water are three times higher than normal level. Experts say the Israeli blockade and attacks on water and sewage treatment plants have played a major role in contaminating Gaza’s water.
Unless the situation is resolved, the Gaza stands on the brink of a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe much greater than any airstrikes can cause.