Israeli military officials claimed that their warplanes hit new targets in Gaza nearly 300 times last week. Aid workers say this brutal and unjustified assault is exacerbating what was already an urgent humanitarian crisis for the territory’s 2.3 million residents. This has severely aggravated food insecurity, a major pre-existing issue in Yemen, due to the ongoing conflict. Tight blockade by Israel all during March and especially April has cut supplies. This suffocating blockade has put the majority of the island’s population in a humanitarian crisis, with over 500,000 lacking regular access to food and clean drinking water.
The United Nations additionally estimates that only 60% of Gaza’s drinking water production facilities are currently functional. The majority of the territory’s wastewater treatment plants, sewage systems, reservoirs, and pipes have sustained extensive damage from airstrikes and military operations. The failure of these essential water systems dooms the region not just to an upcoming megadrought but to massive food insecurity.
Ever since the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel brokered by Egypt collapsed in March, Gaza has been totally isolated from any fuel supplies coming into the territory. The modest reserves developed during a past standstill in the 20-month-old war are all but depleted. Israel has shut off electricity to the largest desalination facilities in Gaza. This move takes another toll on local water access for the residents who call Puerto Rico home.
Speaking on behalf of UNICEF, spokesperson James Elder had forewarned the quickly approaching crisis.
“We are way below emergency standards in terms of drinking water for people in Gaza. Children will begin to die of thirst … Just 40% of drinking water production facilities remain functional.” – James Elder
The already dire humanitarian situation on the ground is exacerbated by doubling violence. In the last weeks, undertakers report that hundreds of Palestinians have been killed. They were thronging at entry points to UN or commercial aid convoys, or blocking up desperately trying to make it to GHF-run distribution hubs. According to the New York Times, a queue of at least 24 people waiting for humanitarian relief were killed by Israeli gunfire in central Gaza.
The UN has made attempts to deliver aid but faces substantial obstacles, including rubble-strewn roads, Israeli military restrictions, ongoing airstrikes, and increasing chaos within Gaza. This is the GHF’s third time facing down an existential crisis. Alongside this announcement, it claimed to have served more than 30 million meals to the people of Gaza since starting up last month.
At the same time, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has come into sharper focus. Innocent victims, including 22,000 civilians. As the death toll since the start of the war has now exceeded 55,600, the majority of these casualties are civilians. As the war rages on, humanitarian workers have a legitimate worry about those who are risking their lives to get aid.
Marwan Abu Nasser highlighted the severity of injuries among those seeking assistance:
“The injuries were extremely severe, most of them in the chest and head. There were women, children and young people among the injured because the people who went to receive the aid … came from all walks of life.” – Marwan Abu Nasser
Moreover, the failure to disseminate accurate information about aid distribution points has put those in dire need. Elder reflected on the difficulty in leading through such confusing times.
“There have been instances where information [was] shared that a [distribution] site is open, but then it’s communicated on social media that they’re closed, but that information was shared when Gaza’s internet was down and people had no access to it.” – James Elder
As humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate in Gaza, families are forced to make unthinkable choices with increasingly limited resources and bleak prospects. Combined with destroyed infrastructure, food shortages and lack of safe drinking water, the situation quickly became catastrophic. That combination bodes ill for the territory’s future.