Press release: The Water Authority and CMWU declare the Gaza Strip a water and environmental disaster area due to the ongoing war.
Gaza - Thursday 31/7/2014
Press Release Issued by: The Water Authority and CMWU:
The Palestinian Water Authority and CMWU Declare the Gaza Strip a Water and Environmental Disaster Area
The Palestinian Water Authority and CMWU declare the Gaza Strip a water and environmental disaster area due to their near-total inability to provide water and sanitation services to the Strip's residents, numbering more than 1.8 million, and call on the international community and its institutions, foremost among them: the United Nations, UNRWA, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Office of the Special Representative for Humanitarian Affairs, and human rights institutions, to move immediately and urgently to confront the serious crisis and avert a catastrophe in the water sector as a result of the continuation of the ongoing Israeli war on the Strip for more than 27 days.
The complete outage of electricity across most areas of the Gaza Strip and all water and sanitation facilities, in addition to the depletion of the fuel stock at CMWU, has led to the Utility's inability to carry out its responsibilities and caused near-total paralysis in providing drinking water to residents, as well as supplying health facilities such as hospitals, clinics, and shelter centers with water services, despite the continuous appeals and warnings to the international institutions working in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war on the Strip.
The Water Authority and CMWU demand the necessity of providing the necessary protection for the crews working in the field, with the aim of providing water and sanitation services to all residents despite the modest capabilities available. It is noted that six workers in the water and sanitation sector were martyred by direct targeting by the Israeli army while carrying out their job duties, in addition to severe damage caused by targeting water and sanitation networks and facilities, as well as damage to the Utility's vehicles, which hinders the ability to repair any damage arising from the continuous Israeli bombardment of the Strip and the siege, which limits the Utility's ability to secure the necessary maintenance parts, worsening the humanitarian conditions for residents in the Strip.
Accordingly, both the Water Authority and CMWU affirm that the Gaza Strip is being exposed to a humanitarian and environmental catastrophe due to the deterioration of the water and health situation, and place the international community, particularly international institutions, UN agencies, and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, before their responsibilities and call on them to intervene immediately to provide the necessary protection for the technical crews of water and sanitation service providers to enable them to work to repair damage and deliver drinking water to residents, and to supply CMWU with the maintenance parts necessary to maintain and operate water and sanitation facilities, and provide the fuel necessary to operate sewage plants and pumping stations in addition to operating water wells, and redouble efforts to secure the electrical current necessary to operate water and sanitation facilities in order to provide humanitarian services to the Strip's disaster-stricken residents and guarantee their human right to access water.
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