The sewage system is currently unable to handle additional water volumes due to widespread destruction.
Gaza Municipality spokesperson Hosni Muhanna stated that the majority of displaced persons’ tents and shelters in Gaza City have been flooded due to the heavy rainfall and the destruction of the drainage system by the Israeli occupation during the recent offensive.
Muhanna warned that the city faces an “imminent danger” as a result of blocked rainwater drainage lines and the complete shutdown of large sections of the sewage network due to the extensive destruction caused by the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.
On Tuesday, Muhanna said that the sewage system in Gaza City is currently unable to handle any additional water volumes. He emphasized that the collapse of the infrastructure threatens to cause contaminated water to flood the streets, homes, and densely populated camps housing displaced people, particularly in low-lying and devastated areas such as Tunnel Street and the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood. This area contains the main reservoir that used to accommodate large quantities of rainwater before it was damaged, along with the destruction of its backup power system and transmission lines.
Muhanna confirmed that tens of thousands of displaced people remain within the city limits in areas devoid of basic services after the destruction of water and sanitation networks. They live in dilapidated tents, some over two years old, that are no longer suitable for shelter or protection.
He revealed that 93% of tents in the Gaza Strip are in a state of disrepair, leaving displaced people vulnerable to drowning, disease, and landslides during any storm.
He stressed that Gaza is now on the brink of its most dangerous winter in decades, and only urgent intervention can prevent the humanitarian crisis from escalating into a full-blown humanitarian and environmental catastrophe.
He explained that the destruction of infrastructure in Gaza City reached 85%, with more than 15,000 linear meters of stormwater drainage networks destroyed, in addition to 180,000 linear meters of sewage networks. 1,600 out of 4,400 drains were damaged, along with pumping and treatment stations, and four main rainwater collection ponds, which constituted the city’s primary protection system, were destroyed.
Muhanna indicated that municipal crews immediately began emergency maintenance work on the sewage and stormwater lines and launched a campaign to clean the stormwater drains. 2,800 out of 4,400 drains have been cleaned, after the occupation forces destroyed 1,600 drains during the war.
The crews also began taking preventative measures around the damaged rainwater collection ponds, especially those surrounded by residential buildings at risk of collapse.
He stressed that the municipality has not received any equipment or tools since the ceasefire until now, and is working in complex and exceptional conditions due to the lack of machinery and equipment necessary for maintenance, as a result of the occupation’s refusal to open the crossings and allow the entry of materials classified as dual-use, which is disrupting efforts to prepare for winter and increasing the risk of flooding.
