UNRWA: Catastrophic environmental damage resulting from the war in Gaza

Gaza (Union)

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced that the Israeli war on Gaza caused catastrophic environmental damage in the Strip.
The agency explained that “the war in Gaza has turned the lives of millions of Palestinians upside down.”
The UN agency’s publication coincides with World Environment Day, corresponding to June 5th of each year.
She stressed that the war caused catastrophic damage to the natural environment on which Palestinians depend for water, clean air, food and livelihoods.
UNRWA indicated that “restoring environmental services in Gaza will take decades, and cannot begin before a ceasefire in the Strip.”
Earlier yesterday, a joint statement by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and the Environmental Quality Authority stated that the total water available in the Gaza Strip is estimated at about 10-20 percent of the total water available before the war, and that this quantity is not fixed and is subject to the availability of fuel.
He stated that the war destroyed 350 km out of 700 km of water networks, or about 50 percent, and 9 water tanks out of 10.
In this context, a senior official at the World Health Organization said that some Gazans are forced to drink sewage and eat animal feed, calling for an immediate increase in aid access to the besieged Strip.
The World Health Organization’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Hanan Balkhi, warned that the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip has an indirect impact on health care throughout the region.
She stressed that what is happening will have serious and continuing effects on children.
She added: “Inside the Gaza Strip, there are people who are now eating animal food, eating grass, and drinking sewage,” explaining that “children are barely getting food, while the trucks are standing outside Rafah.”
Balkhi stressed the urgent needs of patients in Gaza, where up to 11,000 sick and wounded people in critical condition require medical evacuation.
She said: “The patients who are being discharged suffer from some very complex injuries – multiple fractures, multi-drug-resistant bacteria, and children with major deformities.”
According to Balkhi, “In order to rehabilitate and treat such people, you need very complex health care,” noting the enormous pressure on the fragile health systems in neighboring host countries.
Last week, the World Health Organization warned of a “sudden halt” to medical evacuations since Israel launched its attack on Rafah in early May, and warned that more people would die while waiting for care.
In turn, the United Nations Chief Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs and Reconstruction in Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, confirmed yesterday that all efforts and pressures are being exerted to increase the entry of relief aid into the Gaza Strip from all crossings. During discussions held yesterday in Ramallah with Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Mustafa, Kaag stressed the need to focus on the quality of aid and emergency needs and distributing it to all areas of the Strip.
According to the Palestinian News and Information Agency, Wafa, the Palestinian Prime Minister discussed with Kaj the importance of coordinating efforts among all relief parties, and with the government, in a way that intersects with the government’s relief plans, which are supervised by the Ministry of State for Relief Affairs.
Mustafa gave an explanation of the government’s plans for relief in the short, medium and long term, as well as reconstruction the day after the cessation of the war in the Gaza Strip, while emphasizing the necessity of providing financial support and enabling the government to work.