Israeli airstrikes targeted activists and volunteers constructing a well in the al-Saftawi area in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing seven and injuring five, according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), as a severe water shortage continues to cause dehydration, displacement, and death in the region.
Amid an acute water crisis in the Gaza Strip, a group of activists was digging a water well near the al-Waleed Petrol Station in the al-Saftawi area, north of the Gaza Strip.
At approximately 18:15 on Sunday, at least one missile was fired directly at the group, resulting in the loss of lives of seven civilians, identified as – ‘Awni Mohammed ‘Awni Abu al-Nour (18), Ibrahim Mohammed Isma’il Khela (27), Isma’il Mohammed Isma’il Khela (29), Anas Ramadan ‘Abed al-Razeq Shanan (29), Fawzi Nafiz Mohammed al-Dadad (36), Hasan Mohammed Abu Warda (30), and Tareq Ziyad Mohammed Tanboura (24).
Five others were also subjected to various injuries.
According to PCHR, this attack is part of the onslaught of the Israeli forces on crucial infrastructure in Gaza as part of its campaign to make the city unlivable.
“This crime reflects the IOF’s deliberate destruction of water sources, with the aim of turning Gaza into an unlivable zone and forcibly displacing northern Gaza Strip’s residents,” it said.
According to UN reports, 91% of Gaza’s population faces water insecurity due to the systematic destruction of water facilities, with 65% of them accessing as little as 6 litres of water a day.
Reports state that 71% of municipal seawater desalination plants, 69% of water production wells, and 66% of water tanks have been destroyed, along with damage to 89% of Gaza’s water and sanitation sector assets, resulting in the loss of access to safe drinking and domestic water for Gaza’s population.
The systematic destruction of crucial infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is in accordance with the conditions of genocide outlined in Article II of the 1948 Genocide Convention, and violates all international laws and conventions that affirm Palestinians’ right to life, food, and water.
“The seriousness of these actions lies not only in their transformation of water resources into tools of oppression but also in reflecting a form of ecocide, which severely undermines Palestinians’ rights to life, food, land, and dignity, as stipulated in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,” states PCHR.
, as a severe water shortage continues to cause dehydration, displacement, and death in the region.){kind=link}