More from Oxfam:

The aid agency said assessments from the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) show that Israeli attacks since October 7 have caused damage worth at least $210m to Gaza’s water and sanitation systems. The utility came up with the estimate based on field surveys and data collected from its staff in 25 municipal areas.

• “The entire water supply and sewage management systems are nearing total collapse because the damage is so extensive,” Monther Shoblaq, the CEO of CMWU, was quoted as saying.

• “There is no power to operate the water wells, desalination plants and the remaining wastewater treatment plants and the sewage is overflowing. We are doing all we can, but the situation is desperate.”

Source: Al Jazeera

Gaza on ‘brink of deadly epidemic outbreak’, says Oxfam

• The global charity is sounding the alarm over the risk of deadly diseases spreading in Gaza, saying that the Israeli invasion of Rafah is compounding a “lethal cocktail of over-crowding, sewage and hunger”.

Oxfam’s staff in Gaza are describing piles of human waste and rivers of sewage in the streets. They said people are also drinking dirty water while children are being bitten by insects swarming around the sewage.

All of this makes conditions ripe for the outbreak of epidemics, including Hepatitis A and cholera, the charity warned.

The situation is further worsened by Israel’s invasion of Rafah, it said.

“Israel’s military assault on Rafah could be devastating, not only because of the risk of mass civilian casualties, but also the repercussions of vast numbers of people being forced to move,” Oxfam’s Middle East Director Sally Abi Khalil said.

Source: Al Jazeera