Gaza Crisis: Water shortages worsen

Carrying empty containers, children in Gaza City chase after a truck delivering water. It’s been nearly two days since a truck carrying drinking water last reached Shati, the beachside refugee camp west of Gaza City. There, people are struggling to find drinking water. “Water is not available,” Howaida Kaskein, a woman from the camp, said as she waited to fill her bottle.

She added that she only gets one bottle which is not enough for her family. “Our children are dying of thirst,” she said. Some even restored to drinking salt water which causes health complications. Mahmoud Radwan, a Palestinian man from the camp, said he was forced to drink salt water because the available drinking water is not sufficient.

"What can a gallon or two do for an entire day?" he asked. Radwan said saltwater causes intestinal infections, diarrhea and dizziness, but he and others have no other option. Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza for more than two months, banning the entry of aid and fuel which is necessary to operate water wells. It also cut off the electricity supply, affecting a desalination plant producing drinking water for part of the arid territory.