Gaza wastewater treatment plant stops functioning

September 17, 2013 by occupiedpalestine 0 Comments

Al Ray Agencies | Sept 17, 2013
Follow @alraypsen

Gaza, Alray – After the running out of fuel supplies, the Minister of local government in Gaza Mohammed Al -Farra announced on Monday evening that the wastewater treatment plant stopped functioning and the municipalities are going to pump the sewage water into the sea .

Al-Farra said on a statement that all Gaza municipalities will stop functioning next Thursday because of the lack of fuel.

Egypt’s interim government ordered the military to cave in all the lifeline tunnels between Egypt and the besieged Gaza which cause severe shortage of fuel.

Pumping the untreated wastewater into the sea will pollute not only the marine environment of Gaza but also the Mediterranean Sea , Al-Farra warned of an environmental disaster.

He called on the International and Human Rights organizations to increase pressure on Israel in order to lift the siege on Gaza and allow the access of necessary basic needs of besieged people in Gaza.

Since the ouster of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi in a military coup in July, the army has increased the destruction of the tunnels on the Egyptian side of the border with Gaza on the pretext of “fighting against terrorism”. The tunnels have served as a lifeline to the besieged people of Gaza and their destruction has caused shortages of fuel and other essential goods. Gaza is now completely dependent on the limited amount of fuel allowed to enter by Israel.

Palestine | No Water, No Sewerage

“Access to safe water is a fundamental human need & therefore a basic human right.” ~Kofi Annan Information portal about the Human Rights to Water & Sanitation

Gaza | Continuously without water, without sewage, even by force because Israel opens a dam.

Everything is being done, to make life in Gaza impossible. Gaza remains Worlds Largest open Air prison, an israel an an occupier, even neglects rights of the “concentrationcamp”-people they are lawfully to respect, as per International and Humanitairian laws is obligated to even as an occupying force.

As a “Disengaged Occupier” (Report from GISHA), Israel uses deprivation of water as a mean of ethnic cleansing. Access to water, restricting or making the quality causing water borne diseases are to be called deliberate and common policy rather than obeying to at least minimal standards of humanitarian or morals. Even causing deaths, which can be classified as “Avoidable Mortality” also known as “Excess Deaths”: The difference between statisticly proof of normal deathtrates, compared to the reality and difference due to bad ruling or care, even under occupation in which an occupier has also obligations under International Law and is responsible for the continuation of basic needs and supply of such. Reality is, Israel does all not to provide this.

These and many more policies like the calories per head-policy for Gaza, result in a flagrant violation of Human Rights and is a cause of many illnesses and even deaths which are silenced. Media coverage of Israeli attacks or damage on Gaza and West Bank tend to focus on the immediate damage inflicted. Like a well is destroyed, or polluted. Like a dam which is deliberately flooded. But the excess deaths and diseases due to the policies are silenced by all means.

From the news: Occupation opens dams flooding Palestinian homes in Abasan (nov 4, 2011)

From the news: ISRAEL OPENS DAM GATES IN GAZA CAUSING HAVOC (jan 2010)

January 19, 2010 at 13:20 (Gaza, Health Crisis, Israel, Palestine, Photography, zionist harassment)
Gaza flooded after Israel opens dam gates Israel has opened the floodgates of one of its dams in the eastern part of the Gaza Strip, flooding Palestinian houses and causing severe damage.

The Israeli authorities opened the dam’s floodgates without any prior warning or coordination with local authorities in Gaza, stunning the residents of the area, the Press TV correspondent in Gaza reported late on Monday.

There has been heavy rain in the region over the past 24 hours. It seems the Israeli authorities could not handle the huge amount of rainwater and decided to open the floodgates without prior warning.

Because Gaza is located in a low-lying area and the elevation decreases on the way to the Mediterranean Sea, water gushed into the area, flooding two Palestinian villages and displacing a hundred Gazan families. The locals say Israel intentionally caused the floods, the Press TV correspondent said.

The waters from the dam, called the Valley of Gaza, flooded houses in Johr al-Deek village, which is southeast of Gaza City, and Nusirat in the eastern part of the territory, where the Al-Nusirat refugee camp is also located. The Valley of Gaza is about 8 kilometers long. It starts on the eastern Gaza border with Israel and ends in the Mediterranean.

The houses of many Palestinians have been flooded and a number of people are trapped inside or on their roofs, while many have also gone missing, the Press TV correspondent said. Rescue teams are using small boats to evacuate the trapped people.

Hamas has condemned the act as a war crime and has called on all concerned parties to intervene and offer assistance to the locals.The flooding has made life more difficult for the Gazans, especially for those still living in tents because their homes were destroyed in the December 2008-January 2009 Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

In the war, more than 1,400 people were killed, mostly women and children, and over 10,000 houses were destroyed or damaged, forcing at least 500 families to live in tents.

Very little progress is seen in reconstruction of the devastated areas in the Gaza Strip, mostly due to the Israeli blockade, which has prevented the delivery of building materials to the coastal enclave.

From the Palestine Telegraph
Israel opens Dam so Gaza submerges

Gaza – Many Palestinian houses were under water in Central Gaza after Israel opened a closed dam on Tuesday. Israeli authorities opened the “Al-Wadi” dam without prior notice after heavy rainfall on the area.

Seventy citizens were rescued by Civil defense staffs. Medical sources said that 9 citizens were injured and transferred to Gaza hospitals. They said that rescue teams rushed to the area and evacuated all the residents who live in distance of 500-600m in Al-Moghraqa, central Gaza Strip. The minister of Social Affairs Ministry in Gaza, Ahmed Al-Kord, said that they opened Kafer Yasef School for 100 evacuated families. He added that the ministry provided them with the need supplies of food and sheets.

In the West Bank demolitions of wells, springs & water structures

List of water structures in the West Bank demolished by Israel from 2009 to 2011 (source: UN OCHA)

Demolition date	Community	Governorate	Type	Number	Est. people affected
08-06-09	Al-Baqa / al-Bweira	Hebron	well	7	80
03-09-09	Al-Baqa	Hebron	cistern	3	101
11-02-10	Al-Bassa	Hebron	spring	5	100
24-02-10	Kafr Dan	Jenin	well	5	166
14-07-10	Al-Baqa	Hebron	cistern	1	17
15-07-10	Abu al-Urgan	Hebron	cistern	1	20
19-07-10	Al-Baqa	Hebron	cistern	1	17
02-08-10	Wadi al-Ghrous	Hebron	well	1	50
04-08-10	Jabal Joher	Hebron	well	1	90
04-08-10	Wadi al-Joz	Hebron	well	1	9
11-10-10	Khallet al-Warda	Hebron	cistern	1	23
27-10-10	Deir Abu Dief	Jenin	well	4	11,583
30-11-10	Ar-Rashayida	Bethlehem	cistern	1	50
14-12-10	Kassem ad-Daraj/Um ad-Daraj	Hebron	cistern	14	950
29-12-10	At-Tur	Jerusalem	cistern	2	26
19-01-11	Al-Issawiya	Jerusalem	well	1	4
17-02-11	Khallet al-Furn	Hebron	cistern	4	29
22-02-11	Susiya	Hebron	cistern	2	41
02-03-11	al-Ghrous, Baqa	Hebron	cistern	2	7
23-03-11	Ar-Rashayida	Bethlehem	cistern	2	111
07-04-11	al-Aqaba	Tubas	water stream	1
07-04-11	Khallet al-Fahma	Bethlehem	cistern	2	37
05-05-11	Susiya	Hebron	cistern	2	94
26-05-11	Idhna	Hebron	cistern	2	47
29-05-11	Kafr Dan	Jenin	well	8	40
14-06-11	al-Harayeq	Hebron	cistern	2	40
23-06-11	Arab ar-Rashayida	Bethlehem	cistern	1	41
05-07-11	al-Khader	Bethlehem	cistern	1	30
12-07-11	an-Nassariya	Nablus	well	3	37
08-09-11	an-Nassariya	Nablus	well	3	37
13-09-11	an-Nassariya	Nablus	well	1	10
13-09-11	Bait Hasan	Nablus	well	1	285
13-09-11	Tammun	Tubas	well	1	92
04-10-11	Kufr ad-dik	Salfit	well	1	12
04-10-11	Beit Ula	Hebron	cistern	4	80
17-11-11	Udeissa	Hebron	cistern	1	11
17-11-11	al-Baqa’a	Hebron	water pool	1	18
24-11-11	Idhna	Hebron	well	2	34
08-12-11	Beit Ula	Hebron	cistern	1	8
21-12-11	Kufr ad-dik	Salfit	well	3	75
22-12-11	Idhna	Hebron	well	4	116
22-12-11	Idhna	Hebron	cistern	3	0
22-12-11	Idhna	Hebron	tank	2	0
22-12-11	al-Majnuna	Hebron	water pool	10	500

Updates 2012

France accuses Israel of water ‘apartheid’ in West Bank | Haaretz | Jan 16, 2012
List of water structures demolished by Israel in the West Bank from 2009 to 2011 – List
For more info read “The Right to Water – A Policy of Denial and Forced Displacement in the OPT” – Report Al-Haq
May 23, 2012 | Water apartheid leaves Palestinian children ill | Electronic Intifada
June 5, 2012 | In a recent report , Al Mezan center for Human Rights facts are related that Israel’s blockade damaged the environment in Gaza | Report
June 8, 2012 | Water desalination projects to solve Gaza’s problems: a wolf in sheep’s clothing? | Electronic Intifada
June 14, 2012 | Gaza water too contaminated to drink, say charities | BBC