Gaza – Water lines are getting longer as the humanitarian crisis and security risks worsen

In the east of the city of Khan Yunis – in the south of the Gaza Strip – near what is known as the yellow line, workers in a water well continue to fill the tanks of trucks transporting water to camps for the displaced, amid security risks and increasing difficulties in reaching the eastern regions.

Driver Iyad Tabasha, who works on one of the UN-supported water distribution trucks, said while driving his truck east of Khan Yunis: “We are currently heading to the Abu Rashwan area. We are about 600 meters away from the yellow line area, and we do not know what will happen when we are here, and we do not know whether we will return to our homes or not. Only God knows, and we hope for His safety.”

Late last month, it was reported that a worker at a non-governmental organization was killed and four wounded as a result of an Israeli air strike on a water well in Gaza City, and two truck drivers who were working under contract with UNICEF were also killed.

Children, women and men gather around the trucks carrying plastic containers to fill with drinking water, at a time when residents say that water access has become less regular compared to previous months.

Tabasha said that water distribution capabilities have declined sharply in recent months. He added: “We used to transport ten trucks a day loaded with drinking water, but these days all we can do is transport two to three trucks per week.”

About 2.1 million Palestinians live in the Gaza Strip, within less than half of the area of ​​the Strip, in light of the continuing humanitarian and livelihood deterioration.

And he says United Nations partners People’s access to water in Gaza remains difficult. With infrastructure destroyed, about 40 partners are delivering 20,000 cubic meters of water by truck every day, an operation that depends heavily on the availability of fuel and financing.

To meet their water needs, families are forced to obtain it directly from trucks at approximately 2,000 distribution points. However, many do not have suitable containers to collect and store water, and service providers cannot guarantee equal distribution for everyone.

Abu Subhi, a displaced person from the northern Gaza Strip to Khan Yunis, spoke to us while waiting for water to be filled and said: “Desalinated water used to come to us every day in the past, but today we are suffering greatly. The truck comes to us once every week or ten days. Soon summer will come, temperatures will rise and our need for water will increase.”

In another camp in the city of Khan Yunis, the displaced Ahmed Abu Ghali said that the water crisis has become one of the most pressing challenges for the displaced.

He added: “We are suffering from a worsening and very severe water crisis. Drinking water is very scarce, and salt water is also scarce, but what we suffer most from is the lack of drinking water.”

Hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the Gaza Strip depend on mobile water trucks after water networks and infrastructure were damaged by the war, while international organizations warn of increasing health risks with rising temperatures and the approach of summer.