Gaza: As water supplies dwindle, people in Gaza say they won’t drink if they take a bath
By Ahmad Hadizat Omayoza, Mamos Nigeria
‘Don’t drink water while bathing’, Gazans struggle as water supplies dwindle
‘Don’t drink water while bathing’, Gazans struggle as water supplies dwindle People are struggling
Dozens of people in the southern Gaza Strip, many without a shower, have gone days after Israel cut off water, electricity and food following a deadly Hamas attack. There are several people waiting in line for the toilet.
On Friday, 43-year-old Ahmed Hamid flew from Gaza City to Rafah with his wife and seven children after Israeli forces warned residents of the northern enclave to head south “for their own safety.” I evacuated.
“We haven’t showered for days. Even if we go to the toilet, we have to wait in line for our turn,” Hamid told AFP.
“There’s no food. Not all products are available, and the prices of those that are available are rising. The only food we found was canned tuna and cheese.
“I feel like a burden and I can’t do anything.”
The United Nations says Israel has launched relentless airstrikes against the United States in retaliation for Hamas’ deadly attack in the Gaza Strip on October 7. It is estimated that approximately 1 million people have become evacuees since then. Began.
Hamas attacks have claimed more than 1,400 lives on the Israeli side. Most of them are civilians.
On the Gaza side, relentless bombing has killed at least 2,670 people, most of them ordinary Palestinians.
Israel also cut off all water, electricity and food supplies to the densely populated coastal enclave before restoring water supplies in the south on Sunday.
Mona Abdel Hamid, 55, left her home in Gaza City and headed to a relative’s home in Rafah.
Instead, she found herself in the homes of people she didn’t know.
“I feel humiliated and ashamed. I seek refuge. We don’t have much clothes, most of them are dirty and we don’t have water to wash them,” she said.
“There’s no electricity, no running water, no internet. I feel like I’m losing my humanity.”
Refugee life
Since Friday, 50-year-old Saba Masbah has lost her husband, daughter and 21 other relatives. He lives with Rafa at a friend’s house.
“The worst and most dangerous thing is not being able to find water. No one is bathing now because water is so scarce,” she told AFP.
Speaking from his home in Khan Younis, near a school run by the United Nations agency that supports Palestinian refugees, Essam said: .”
But “water is the problem,” said the 23-year-old, who declined to give his full name.
“Every day we think about how to get water…We don’t drink water when we bathe.”
People evacuated to UNRWA schools are also desperate for food and water. I’m looking for
More people are likely to be evacuated “as people continue to leave their homes”, Juliette Touma, the UN agency’s communications director, told AFP.
Israel is concentrating troops and weapons on the Gaza border ahead of an expected ground offensive.
Despite Israeli evacuation orders, airstrikes occurred in the south, including Rafah, where residents said a doctor’s home was attacked.
“My whole family was wiped out,” said Khamis Abu Hilal.
