LONDON: Palestine’s Environmental Quality Authority said on Thursday that 66 percent of people in Gaza are suffering from water-borne diseases such as cholera, chronic diarrhea and intestinal diseases, Palestine News and Information Agency reported.
This health crisis is due to a scarcity of potable water and the shutdown of all water desalination facilities, a situation exacerbated by the Israeli military attack on the occupied strip.
According to the authority, Israel’s bombardment has destroyed sewage systems in Gaza, leading to their overflow. This is particularly evident in the case of the Sheikh Radwan Pool, now severely impacted by the combination of rainwater accumulation and sewage leakage.
The authority emphasizes that the current situation is not only a humanitarian crisis but an environmental one.
Israel’s military campaign has destroyed about 50,000 trees and caused extensive damage to acres of farmland, nurseries and home gardens, it revealed. This destruction is causing increased desertification, loss of biodiversity, soil quality degradation and a rise in carbon dioxide emissions.
The war has also led to the accumulation of solid and medical waste, increased carbon emissions and added to the affects of climate change.
