A NEW Oxfam report on Thursday has revealed how Israel has been systematically weaponising water against Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip in total disregard for human life and international law.
The report, Water War Crimes, finds that Israel’s cutting of external water supply, systematic destruction of water facilities and deliberate aid obstruction have reduced the amount of water available in Gaza by 94% to 4.74 litres a day per person – just under a third of the recommended minimum in emergencies and less than a single toilet flush.
The Oxfam analysis also found that Israeli military attacks have damaged or destroyed five water and sanitation infrastructure sites every three days since the start of the war; the destruction of water and electricity infrastructure and restrictions on entry of spare parts and fuel (on average a fifth of the required amount is allowed in) saw water production drop by 84% in Gaza and that external supply from Israel’s national water company, Mekorot, fell by 78%.
It also found that Israel has destroyed 70% of all sewage pumps and 100% of all wastewater treatment plants, as well as the main water quality testing laboratories in Gaza, and restricted the entry of Oxfam water testing equipment; and that Gaza City has lost nearly all its water production capacity, with 88% of its water wells and 100% of its desalination plants damaged or destroyed.
The report also highlighted the dire impact of this extreme lack of clean water and sanitation on Palestinians’ health, with more than a quarter (26%) of Gaza’s population falling severely ill from easily preventable diseases.
Oxfam Water and Sanitation Specialist, Lama Abdul Samad, said it was clear that Israel had created a devastating humanitarian emergency resulting in Palestinian civilian deaths.
‘We’ve already seen Israel’s use of collective punishment and its use of starvation as a weapon of war. Now we are witnessing its weaponising of water, which is already having deadly consequences,’ she said.
‘But the deliberate restriction of access to water is not a new tactic. The Israeli government has been depriving Palestinians across the West Bank and Gaza of safe and sufficient water for many years,’ she added.
Oxfam said that in January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) demanded that Israel immediately improve humanitarian access in light of a plausible genocide in Gaza. Since then, Oxfam has witnessed firsthand Israel’s obstruction of a meaningful humanitarian response, which is killing Palestinian civilians.
It called for urgent action including an immediate and permanent ceasefire; for Israel to allow a full and unfettered humanitarian response; and for Israel to foot the reconstruction bill for water and sanitation infrastructure.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has strongly condemned the Israeli Knesset’s approval of a bill rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state, viewing it as a continuation of colonial occupation policies and ongoing violations of Palestinian rights, in blatant defiance of international law and relevant UN resolutions.
The organisation also condemned the intrusion yesterday of the extremist minister in the Israeli occupation government, Itamar Ben-Gvir, into the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of Israeli occupation forces. It reiterated its condemnation of all Israeli occupation policies aimed at altering the geographic and demographic reality in occupied Al-Quds, and its efforts to undermine the historical and legal status of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The organisation stressed the shared responsibility to defend and restore it to Palestinian sovereignty, as it constitutes an integral part of the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967 and the capital of the State of Palestine.
The organisation also affirmed its support for all efforts made by the State of Palestine to mobilise the international community’s responsibility, including activating the mechanisms of international justice to hold the occupying power, Israel, accountable for its war crimes and genocide, and to rectify the historical injustice that continues to be inflicted on the Palestinian people.
Enough is Enough. The worldwide trade union movement must organise an international general strike to free Palestine from the grip of the Israeli occupation. The British trade unions must now take the lead and call a general strike until the establishment of the state of Palestine. Workers cannot and will not tolerate the Zionist gangsters.
Forward to the establishment of the State of Palestine!
