‘Barely a drop’: UN warns water shortages a deadly risk for Gaza children
Al Jazeera
Water and sanitation services are at the point of collapse with large-scale disease outbreaks looming, UNICEF warns.
Limited access to clean water and sanitation amid Israel’s relentless bombardment pose a grave risk to children in Gaza, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned.
Huge masses of displaced people herded into the southern Gaza Strip by the war are accessing only 1.5 to 2 litres of water per day, well below the recommended requirement for survival, the UN agency stated on Wednesday. The crisis, antagonised by limited aid deliveries and the destruction of infrastructure, puts huge numbers of vulnerable children at risk of disease, it added.
Pushed by Israel’s continued onslaught across the enclave, hundreds of thousands of people, around half of them estimated to be children, have been pushed into the city of Rafah since early December, and are in desperate need of food, water, shelter, medicines and protection, UNICEF said. As demand continues to rise, water and sanitation systems in the city are in an extremely critical state.
UNICEF says that 3 litres are required daily for survival. The amount rises to 15 litres if water required for washing and cooking is also counted.
“Access to sufficient amounts of clean water is a matter of life and death, and children in Gaza have barely a drop to drink,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
