Gaza Coming Water Crisis Worse Than Anything Yet?

Apr 2, 2022 | Ramzy Baroud
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It is important to keep in mind that the water crisis in Gaza has been ongoing for years, and every aspect of this protracted crisis is linked to Israel.

This was our life under Israeli military occupation in Gaza. The tactic of holding Palestinians hostage to Israel's water charity was so widespread during the First Palestinian Intifada, or upirising, to the extent that denying water supplies to targeted refugee camps, villages, towns or whole regions was the first measure taken to subdue the rebellious population.

Israel's water war on the Palestinians has changed since those early days, especially as the Climate Change crisis has accelerated Israel's need to prepare for grim future possibilities. Of course, this largely happens at the expense of the occupied Palestinians. In the West Bank, the Israeli government continues to usurp Palestinian water resources from the region's main aquifers - the Mountain Aquifer and the Coastal Aquifer. Frustratingly, Israel's main water company, Mekorot, sells stolen Palestinian water to Palestinian villages and towns, especially in the northern West Bank region, at exhorbitant prices.

As difficult as the situation for West Bank Palestinians is, in Gaza the humanitarian catastrophe is already in effect. On the occasion of the World Water Day on March 22, Gaza's Water and Environmental Quality Authority warned of a 'massive crisis' should Gaza's water supplies continue to deplete at the current dangerous rate. The Authority's spokesman, Mazen al-Banna, told reporters that 98 percent of Gaza's water supplies are not fit for human consumption. But how did Gaza get to this point?