ISRAEL must immediately lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip, allowing the delivery of fuel and other essential supplies into the territory without restrictions, said Amnesty International yesterday.
For the last month, all of Gaza’s 1.7 million residents have been living without power for most of the time and in the shadow of a public health catastrophe, after their sole power plant was forced to shut down, causing the failure of several sewage and water plants.
‘This latest harsh setback has exacerbated the assault on the dignity of Palestinians in Gaza and the massive denial of rights they have experienced for more than six years because of Israel’s blockade, together with restrictions imposed by Egypt,’ said Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.
‘The blockade has collectively punished Gaza’s population in violation of international law.
‘The power plant shutdown has further affected all aspects of daily life, and the Israeli authorities must lift the blockade immediately, starting by allowing urgently needed fuel supplies into the Strip and working with all relevant parties to avert a prolonged humanitarian crisis this winter.’
The power plant, which until recently supplied 30 per cent of the Gaza Strip’s electricity, ran out of diesel fuel on 1st November. The resulting shutdown has exacerbated an ongoing water and sanitation crisis and has left Gaza residents without power for 16 hours a day.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, all 291 water and wastewater facilities in the Gaza Strip are now relying on standby generators, which are also affected by the fuel shortages.
On 13 November, a large sewage pumping station failed in al-Zaytoun, south of Gaza City, allowing more than 35,000 cubic metres of raw sewage to spew into the streets.
Local authorities have struggled to clean up the spill, leaving some 3,000 residents wading through sewage.
The clean-up finally began on 29 November, according to local residents, following efforts by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and other agencies, and an emergency donation from Turkey to pay for fuel for critical sewage stations.
Ten other sewage pumping stations in the Gaza Strip have been forced to divert sewage to open channels, lagoons, or the sea during the last month, and other stations are close to overflowing.
Water supply to households across the Strip, which was already rationed, has also been reduced since the power plant shutdown.
Some 65 per cent of Gaza’s population receive water once every three or four days only.
Hospitals and other health facilities throughout the Gaza Strip have been relying on their own generators during the lengthy power outages.
But the generators are also affected by fuel shortages, jeopardising essential services like kidney dialysis, operating theatres, blood banks, intensive care units, neo-natal care, and laboratories, putting patients’ lives at risk.
