Gaza's water, sanitation infrastructure decimated by Israel: UNRWA
Palestinian boys transport water containers past buildings destroyed during previous Israeli bombardment, in Gaza City, June 10, 2024. (AFP Photo)


The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees announced that 67% of the water and sanitation facilities and infrastructure in Gaza have been destroyed in Israeli attacks since October, as it highlighted the urgent need for action.

"As infectious diseases continue to spread and temperatures rise, the lack of hygiene and dehydration pose a severe threat to the health of people across Gaza," the UNRWA wrote on X.

UNRWA plays a vital role in providing life-saving services to registered Palestine refugees; however, the recent destruction of essential infrastructure in Gaza exacerbates an already precarious situation, leaving many without access to clean water and sanitation facilities.

Flouting a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 37,400 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 85,400 others injured, according to local health authorities.

More than eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.