"160 People Share One Bathroom and Wash with Seawater Waste: Serious Sanitation Issues for Gaza Strip Refugees"

One Shower Facility for 700 Refugees at Protection Center
"Water and Power Shortages Due to Refugee Overcrowding"

It is reported that sanitation issues are becoming severe in the Gaza Strip, which is under retaliatory airstrikes by Israel, due to shortages of water and electricity.

On the 7th of last month (local time), armed conflict began between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. According to major foreign media, Israeli ground forces that entered the Gaza Strip on the 27th of last month have been increasing the intensity of their attacks while remaining in the area. Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari stated, "Hamas has lost control in the northern region."

Residents and refugees in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, are crowded as they hold bowls, pots, and buckets to receive food distribution.
[Photo by AP·Yonhap News]

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on the 9th, as of the previous day, 1.5 million displaced persons have evacuated to shelters in the Gaza Strip. Among them, more than 725,000 people are staying in 149 refugee shelters operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

UNRWA stated, "The shelters have become overcrowded to the point where they can no longer accommodate newly arrived people." OCHA also explained that these shelters have an average of 160 people sharing one toilet, and 700 people sharing one shower facility.

Water shortage is also a serious problem. UNRWA provides 1.5 liters of drinking water per person and 3 to 4 liters of non-potable water at the shelters. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a minimum daily water usage of 15 liters.

OCHA noted that the water in relief trucks entering the Gaza Strip from Egypt is only sufficient to supply 4% of the entire population of the Gaza Strip.

Two desalination plants located in the southern Gaza Strip, which produce drinking water, are facing severe power shortages. Their operational capacity is limited, running at only about 15% of normal capacity. Since the outbreak of the conflict, power supply to the Gaza Strip has been cut off, and the area relies on electricity generated by emergency generators.

On the 8th (local time), residents of the Khan Yunis refugee camp in southern Gaza Strip are filling containers with drinking water.
[Photo by EPA·Yonhap News]

With major facilities destroyed by airstrikes, wastewater treatment in the Gaza Strip has been halted. Wastewater is flowing into the sea, and most of the seawater along the Gaza Strip's coast is heavily polluted. OCHA reported that residents, facing water shortages, are washing clothes and themselves in the contaminated sea water.

WHO announced that since mid-last month, there have been more than 33,500 reported cases of residents in the Gaza Strip experiencing diarrhea symptoms. More than half of these cases involved children under the age of five.

Meanwhile, on the 9th, the U.S. White House announced that Israel has agreed to cease hostilities for four hours daily in the northern Gaza Strip to help civilians escape from combat zones.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.