Fact# 157: How Israel uses Water as a Weapon

Fact

Last year (2019), the Gaza Strip’s unemployment rate averaged 45%. More than 208,000 people were without work. Over 68% of the population suffered food insecurity.

Now, since the coronavirus pandemic broke out, another 130,000 workers have been made jobless.

 As we all struggle to combat the spread of the coronavirus, access to clean water is more essential than ever. Yet 97% of the 2 million people in the Gaza Strip must live without clean water for hygiene and consumption. 98% of the water is contaminated.

The cause? Israel’s bombardments of the Gaza Strip’s wells and water infrastructure, and its refusal to allow repairs.

Families in the Gaza Strip who can afford it must rely on expensive low-quality trucked water.

 But while the average cost of water in the West is 0.7% of monthly wages, and the UN states that affordable water should not cost more than 3% of household income—one third of the monthly wages of people in the Gaza Strip goes towards buying water. 

Those who cannot afford to buy water must rely on contaminated water from the public taps that operate at most a few times a week. 

Source: reliefweb, electronic intifada, reliefweb

In Palestine, Life Goes On

Read this update and see more of these amazing photos~

Palestine in Pictures: April 2020

Palestinian children fill water bottles in a poor neighborhood in the Beit Lahiya area of northern Gaza on 9 April. According to UNICEF, half of the Gaza Strip’s residents are children and only one in 10 households has direct access to clean water. Photo: Mohammed Zaanoun/ActiveStills

Palestinian youths practice gymnastics on the beach in Gaza City on 19 April.

Photo: Mahmoud Ajjour/APA images

A Palestinian family calls their loved ones self-isolating at home as they break their Ramadan fast in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 25 April. Photo: Ashraf Amra/APA images

Corona Virus Update in Palestine

At a time when the Corona virus crisis has crowded out other news, the Alliance is producing news briefs every two weeks to keep our members informed about the situation in occupied Palestine.

Brief for April 30, 2020

The Israeli paper Haaretz reports that by the end of April 15,946 Israelis had tested positive for Covid-19 and 222 had died. Palestinian sources cite at least 320 cases and 2 deaths in the West Bank, and 17 cases in the Gaza Strip. Over half the West Bank cases can be traced to workers infected in Israel and denied treatment there. The Red Cross delivered some medical equipment to Gaza on April 23, bringing its number of ventilators to 93. About 2,000 Gazans are currently being quarantined in schools and hotels.

On April 20, after 3 inconclusive Israeli elections, Benny Gantz of the ‘Blue and White Party’ agreed to form a ‘national unity’ government with Netanyahu, whose trial on corruption charges has been postponed because of the Covid-19 crisis. In forging a deal that helps Netanyahu consolidate his authoritarian rule, Gantz agreed that in July the Knesset would vote on Israel’s annexation of large parts of the West Bank. On April 27, the State Department said it was ready to recognize annexation of Jewish settlements.

As if to clear the way for annexation, Israeli settlers have stepped up attacks on Palestinian farmers. From April 1 – 23, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem documented 23 settler attacks using clubs, axes, electroshock weapons, and assault dogs. Settlers have uprooted Palestinian olive trees, dumped sewage on their fields and loosed their cattle on Palestinian farms.

The Israeli army has continued to raid West Bank homes and make arrests – the number of child detainees has increased 6% during the months of the Covid-19 crisis. On April 19, the army used live ammunition against youth protesting the Apartheid wall in Tulkarem. Soldiers have fired on protestors in the Jerusalem district and those in Kufur Qaddoum holding weekly demonstrations against expanding settlements, and have also shot at farmers in the Gaza Strip. At least three Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the pandemic was declared.

You can read about many of these incidents here.