A statement from CMWU condemns repeated looting of its facilities in Rafah and central Gaza, with losses estimated at about 9 million dollars.
Press Release Issued by CMWU on the Theft Attacks on Its Facilities
CMWU condemns the repeated looting operations that many of the Utility's water and sanitation facilities have been subjected to, particularly the recent looting in Rafah city with the start of the Israeli occupation's incursion into the city, particularly the wastewater treatment plant in Tel Al-Sultan through the theft of solar panels, the Ibn Taymiyyah desalination plant, the Al-Zohour well, the UNDP sanitation pumping station, the Canadian reservoir, and the Al-Furqan well, in addition to numerous previous theft attacks on the Utility's main facilities, including the theft of electrical panels and cables from the coastal wells belonging to the seawater desalination plant in central Gaza Strip, and the theft of the Utility's main warehouses in the Khan Younis Mawasi area. These looting operations resulted in the theft of the warehouses' contents of spare parts and maintenance requirements for water and sanitation facilities, estimated at about 9 million dollars, which prevents the provision of necessary services at even a minimum level to our people in the various areas of the Gaza Strip.
Accordingly, CMWU urgently appeals to the various official government bodies, civil society institutions, and popular committees to help preserve the Utility's various facilities, particularly amid the repeated attacks that have affected many important facilities and have already affected the water utility's ability to continue supplying residents with water and sanitation services, particularly amid the continuing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip. It also appeals to all relevant official parties for the necessity of pursuing all those who have attacked public facilities and returning everything stolen, including generators, electromechanical equipment, solar panels, water tanks, and diesel, in order to enable the Utility to continue providing its services to our people in the various residential neighborhoods and displacement areas, to prevent the worsening of the drinking water supply crisis and sewage overflow, as the problem steadily worsens with the occupation's continued repeated refusal to allow the entry of equipment and maintenance spare parts needed for the aforementioned facilities.
CMWU affirms that it reserves its right to act in accordance with what the law and prevailing custom require in such cases, and will approach the relevant authorities to hold them to their responsibilities and hold accountable the persons who committed these crimes, noting the existence of lists of names of those who committed theft attacks on water facilities and threatened with the use of firearms and edged weapons, and evidence of the theft operations showing photos and videos of the looting operations and the persons carrying out the theft operations.
CMWU affirms in this context that it will not abandon its national duty toward our people in all governorates of the Gaza Strip, in a way that eases the burden of the harsh conditions on them, and that it will continue to provide water and sanitation services with what is available of equipment and spare parts through its field teams and in cooperation with the technical teams in the various municipalities of the Gaza Strip, with support and backing from its partners among national and international institutions.
