Jamie McGoldrick made the announcement when speaking to reporters on Friday via video, adding that people are getting much less water than they need and, as a result, there have been waterborne diseases due to lack of safe and clean water and the disruption of the sanitation systems.
In the months ahead, we need to provide better supply of water for more crowded areas, he said, after making his final visit to Gaza at the end of his three-month assignment.
Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, and hepatitis A, according to the World Health Organization.
Since mid-October, following the assault on Gaza in response to attacks on the occupied Palestine by Hamas, WHO has recorded more than 345,000 cases of diarrhea, including more than 105,000 in children under five.
The Gaza Strip’s only natural source of water is the Coastal Aquifer Basin, which runs along the eastern Mediterranean coast from the northern Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, through Gaza and into occupied Palestine. Its quality over the years has deteriorated rapidly, largely because it had been pumped out to meet the demands of Gaza’s population more rapidly than it could be replaced by rainwater.
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