Gaza running out of water, ‘matter of life and death’, warns UN agency for Palestinian refugees

GENEVA (AA) – While no humanitarian supplies have been allowed into Gaza since October 7, two million people across Gaza are in danger of running out of water, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has said.

“It has become a matter of life and death. It is a must; fuel needs to be delivered now into Gaza to make water available for 2 million people,” Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA commissioner-general, said in a statement.

“No humanitarian supplies have been allowed into Gaza for a week now,” he said on Saturday.

People are being forced to use dirty water from wells after Gaza’s water plant and public water networks stopped working, he said, warning that the situation is exacerbating the risk of waterborne diseases.

He added that Gaza has also been under an electricity blackout since Wednesday, which also impacts the water supply.

Lazzarini stressed that drinking water is also running out in south Gaza, where thousands of people have sought refuge since Israel on Friday ordered over 1 million Gazans to leave their homes in the northern strip to go to the south.

“The exodus continues as people move to the southern parts of the Gaza Strip. Nearly 1 million people have been displaced in one week alone.”

He emphasized the need for sending fuel into Gaza, saying: “Fuel is the only way for people to have safe drinking water. If not, people will start dying of severe dehydration, among them young children, the elderly, and women.

“I appeal for the siege on humanitarian assistance to be lifted now,” Lazzarini said.

In a separate statement, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that water-borne diseases caused by a lack of clean water among blockaded people can lead to deaths.

“Lack of access to clean water is an immediate risk for water-borne disease outbreaks, which can be deadly among fragile populations with limited or no access to health care,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, warned on X.