Infectious Diseases ‘Exploding’

Oxfam: Less than 7% of Pre-Conflict Water Levels Available in Gaza

Date: 18 February 2025 - 22:15

News ID: ۱۳۷۰۳۲

WEST BANK (Dispatches) – The Zionist regime has destroyed 1,675 kilometers of water and sanitation networks in Gaza leaving a “dangerously critical” situation for Palestinians in the enclave, Oxfam has warned.
“In north Gaza and Rafah governorates, which have suffered the most destruction, less than seven percent of pre-conflict water levels is available to people, heightening the spread of waterborne diseases,” it added.
Warning against a restart of bombing, Oxfam said: “Any renewed violence or disruption to fuel and the already inadequate aid would trigger a full-scale public health disaster.”
Oxfam’s Humanitarian Coordinator in Gaza, Clemence Lagouardat, said: “Now that the bombs have stopped, we have only just begun to grasp the sheer scale of destruction to Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure. Most vital water and sanitation networks have been entirely lost or paralyzed, creating catastrophic hygiene and health conditions.”
In the north Gaza governorate, almost all water wells have been destroyed by Israeli occupation forces. Over 700,000 people have returned to find entire neighborhoods wiped out.
Oxfam also reported an outburst of waterborne and infectious diseases in the Gaza Strip amid the lack of safe water and untreated sewage overflowing in streets following the Israeli military’s genocidal war on the besieged coastal territory.
It cited a study by the World Health Organization, which discovered that 88 percent of environmental samples surveyed across Gaza were found contaminated with polio, “signaling an imminent risk of outbreak”.
Oxfam noted that infectious diseases, including acute watery diarrhea and respiratory infections – now the primary causes of death, are also soaring, with 46,000 cases, mostly children, being reported each week.
Chickenpox and skin diseases such as scabies and impetigo are also spreading quickly, particularly among displaced people in northern Gaza, where the population is facing severe water shortages.
“Rebuilding water and sanitation is vital for Gaza to have a path to normalcy after 15 months of horror. The ceasefire must hold and fuel and aid must flow so that Palestinians can rebuild their lives,” Lagouardat said.
This comes as the Ministry of Health in Gaza says hospitals in the coastal sliver are facing “a severe lack of oxygen” that threatens patients’ lives as a result of Israel’s atrocious military campaign and the ongoing blockade of aid.