DaysofPal – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has sounded the alarm over a looming catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, warning that thousands of children are at risk of dying from thirst within days due to the collapse of water networks.
The crisis, according to UNICEF, is the result of sustained Israeli policies blocking fuel entry and disabling basic infrastructure, rather than any logistical failure.
“This is a man-made drought,” said UNICEF spokesperson James Elder during a press conference in Amman, Jordan, following a field visit to Gaza. “The disaster is not the result of technical challenges; it’s a deliberate deprivation policy targeting the basics of survival, foremost among them: water.”
Elder stated that only 40% of Gaza’s drinking water production facilities remain functional, and even these are on the brink of shutting down completely without the immediate provision of fuel. “Diseases are already worsening, and chaos is intensifying,” he warned. “This is not technical. This is political.”
He painted a grim picture of life in Gaza under siege. “Everyone I saw was carrying anything they could to restore water,” he said. “Donkeys are replacing trucks at water points, and even the donkeys are slowing down, as they barely have enough food to survive.”
Fuel shortages have paralyzed Gaza’s already devastated health system, which depends on generators to run oxygen machines, incubators, life support equipment, and ambulances. “Blocking fuel means the collapse of all means of survival,” Elder stated bluntly.
UNICEF also drew a direct connection between the water crisis and worsening malnutrition among children. More than 110 children suffering from severe malnutrition are being admitted to treatment centers every day. “Dehydration and hunger are now part of a deadly cycle,” Elder said.
He also criticized the chaotic and dangerous conditions around humanitarian aid distribution, explaining that many of the so-called “distribution sites” are located within or near active combat zones. “There have been mass casualties because of contradictory decisions and lack of clear information,” Elder noted. “When a certain area is declared a combat zone and doesn’t open at the announced time, entering it can be deadly.”
Elder emphasized that the situation in Gaza has reached an unprecedented level of severity. “This is the most critical moment since the war on children began,” he said. “There is a near-total blockade, humanitarian aid is marginalized, the daily killing of girls and boys goes unnoticed, and now a deliberate fuel crisis is cutting off the most essential element for survival: water.”
He concluded with a pointed critique of the global response. “We are not comparing ourselves to a vacuum, but to humanitarian systems that have proven effective since World War II,” Elder said. “What’s happening now is the exclusion of a humanitarian system that has served the world for seven decades.”
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with U.S. backing, has waged a relentless military campaign on Gaza. Over 185,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured, the majority of them women and children. More than 11,000 remain missing, while a famine continues to claim lives daily. Widespread destruction, forced displacement, and starvation persist in defiance of repeated international appeals and binding orders from the International Court of Justice to halt the assault.
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