The Gaza Municipality warned of a severe water shortage in the city, exacerbated by the disruption of the Mekorot water pipeline. The pipeline was damaged during bulldozing operations carried out by Israeli forces east of the city.
In a statement published on its official Facebook page on Wednesday, the municipality said the damaged pipeline supplied the city with approximately 70% of its current water needs. This comes at a time when the water infrastructure has suffered extensive damage, including the destruction of nearly 85% of the water wells within Gaza City, significantly reducing the available water supply for residents.
The municipality explained that the daily water requirement before the war exceeded 100,000 cubic meters, while currently only a limited portion of this need is being met. This has resulted in a deficit of approximately 90% compared to pre-war levels, a dangerous indicator of the widening gap between supply and demand.
The municipality explained that the destruction of approximately 150,000 linear meters of water networks, along with the destruction of the desalination plant in the Sudaniya area northwest of the city, exacerbated the crisis and reduced alternative supply sources that had helped alleviate pressure on the network.
According to the statement, the recent break in the Mekorot pipeline east of the city led to water outages in large areas, including the Old City, the Zeitoun, Sabra, and Tel al-Hawa neighborhoods, as well as western areas, due to the extensive damage to water sources and related infrastructure.
The Gaza Municipality confirmed that it is coordinating with the Palestinian Water Authority to reach the site of the damaged pipeline and begin repair work, in an effort to restore some of the lost supply and limit the spread of the outage.
It stressed the urgent need to provide essential supplies to ensure the continuity of water services, including building materials, technical equipment, spare parts, pipes of various diameters, and the pumps necessary to boost water flow and improve network efficiency. It warned that the absence of these requirements threatens to disrupt repair efforts.
