Engineer Maher Salem, Director General of Planning and Investment at the Gaza Municipality, warned of a catastrophic escalation of the city’s water crisis, emphasizing that the current water supply falls far short of meeting the minimum needs of residents and displaced persons amidst the ongoing Israeli aggression and war of genocide.
In a press statement, Salem said that the amount of water currently available from the wells the municipality has managed to operate, in addition to the Mekorot water supply, does not exceed 35,000 cubic meters per day. He described this quantity as “extremely meager” compared to the city’s actual needs.
The municipal official further explained the enormous gap in per capita water availability, noting that the average Gazan’s share has plummeted from 80 liters per day before the war of genocide to less than 10 liters currently, a figure far below internationally accepted standards for crisis situations. Salem revealed a complete interruption of water services to large areas of the city, most notably: “Al-Nasr Al-Gharbi neighborhood, north of Al-Shati camp, and Tel Al-Hawa neighborhood” southwest of Gaza, noting that areas in the city center suffer from severe thirst immediately after the interruption of “Mekorot” water, especially with the doubling of population density as a result of repeated waves of displacement.
