GAZA/CAIRO: Hundreds of thousands of Gaza City residents have lost their main source of clean water in the past week after supplies from Israel’s water utility were cut by the Israeli army’s renewed offensive, municipal authorities in the territory said.
Many now have to walk, sometimes for miles, to get a small water fill after the Israeli military’s bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza City’s eastern Shejaia neighborhood, in the north of the Strip, damaged the pipeline operated by state-owned Mekorot.
“Since morning, I have been waiting for water,” said 42-year-old Gaza woman Faten Nassar. “There are no stations and no trucks coming. There is no water. The crossings are closed. God willing, the war will end safely and peacefully.”
Israel’s military said in a statement it was in contact with the relevant organizations to coordinate the repair of what it called a malfunction of the northern pipeline as soon as possible.
It said a second pipeline supplying southern Gaza was still operating, adding that the water supply system “is based on various water sources, including wells and local desalination facilities distributed throughout the Gaza Strip.”
Israel ordered Shejaia residents to evacuate last week as it launched an offensive that has seen several districts bombed. The military has said previously it was operating against “terror infrastructure” and had killed a senior militant leader.
The northern pipeline had been supplying 70 percent of Gaza City’s water since the destruction of most of its wells during the war, municipal authorities say.
“The situation is very difficult and things are getting more complicated, especially when it comes to people’s daily lives and their daily water needs, whether for cleaning, disinfecting, and even cooking and drinking,” said Husni Mhana, the municipality’s spokesperson.
“We are now living in a real thirst crisis in Gaza City, and we could face a difficult reality in the coming days if the situation remains the same.”
Worsening water crisis
Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have become internally displaced by the war, with many making daily trips on foot to fill plastic containers with water from the few wells still functioning in remoter areas — and even these do not guarantee clean supplies.
Water for drinking, cooking and washing has increasingly become a luxury for Gaza residents following the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose fighters carried out the deadliest attack in decades on Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 people in southern Israel and taking some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 50,800 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military campaign, Palestinian authorities have said.
Many residents across the enclave queue for hours to get one water fill, which usually is not enough for their daily needs.
“I walk long distances. I get tired. I am old, I’m not young to walk around every day to get water,” said 64-year-old Adel Al-Hourani.
The Gaza Strip’s only natural source of water is the Coastal Aquifer Basin, which runs along the eastern Mediterranean coast from the northern Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, through Gaza and into Israel.
But its salty tap water is severely depleted, with up to 97 percent deemed unfit for human consumption due to salinity, over-extraction and pollution.
The Palestinian Water Authority stated that most of its wells had been rendered inoperable during the war.
On March 22, a joint statement by the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics and the Water Authority said more than 85 percent of water and sanitation facilities and assets in Gaza were completely or partially out of service.
Palestinian and United Nations officials said most of Gaza’s desalination plants were either damaged or had stopped operations because of Israel’s power and fuel cuts.
“Due to the extensive damage incurred by the water and sanitation sector, water supply rates have declined to an average of 3-5 liters per person per day,” the statement said.
That was far below the minimum 15 liters per person per day requirement for survival in emergencies, according to the World Health Organization indicators, it added.

WASHINGTON: The United States and Iran are set for talks this weekend in Oman as President Donald Trump reiterated this week threats of military action against Tehran if it does not agree to limits on its nuclear program.
Western countries suspect Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, which Iran denies.
If Iran does not make a deal, Trump has said, “There will be bombing, and it will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”
Here is what we know about the US military presence in the Middle East:

WHERE ARE US BASES IN THE MIDDLE EAST?
The US has operated bases around the Middle East for decades and the largest is Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, built in 1996, based on the number of personnel.
Other countries where the US has troops include Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
There are normally about 30,000 US troops across the region, down sharply from when US forces were involved in major operations. There were more than 100,000 US troops in Afghanistan in 2011 and over 160,000 in Iraq in 2007.
The US has roughly 2,000 troops in Syria at small bases mostly in the northeast. About 2,500 US personnel are stationed in Iraq including at the US Union III site in Baghdad.

WHAT REINFORCEMENTS HAS TRUMP SENT?
The Pentagon has said that it surged additional forces to the Middle East in recent weeks.
It also relocated as many as six B-2 bombers in March to a US-British military base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, which experts said would put them in an ideal position to intervene quickly in the Middle East.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said that it was up to Iran to decide whether to interpret this as a message to Tehran.
The Pentagon has also sent other aircraft and more air defense assets including a Patriot missile defense battalion.
Two US aircraft carrier ships are in the Middle East, and each carries thousands of troops and dozens of aircraft.

WHY ARE US TROOPS STATIONED IN THE REGION?
US troops are stationed in the Middle East for a variety of reasons.
In some countries like Iraq, US troops are fighting Daesh militants and local forces. But over the past several years Iran-backed fighters have attacked US personnel who have struck back.
Jordan, a key US ally in the region, has hundreds of US trainers and they hold extensive exercises throughout the year.
US troops are in other countries such as Qatar and the UAE as a security assurance, for training and to assist in regional military action as needed.
The United States is undertaking a bombing campaign against Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen.
DO US BASES IN THE REGION GET ATTACKED OFTEN?
US bases are highly guarded facilities, including air defense systems to protect against missiles or drones. Facilities in countries like Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait are not usually attacked.
But US troops in Iraq and Syria have come under frequent attack in recent years.
Since 2023, the Houthi movement has launched more than 100 attacks on ships off Yemen’s coast, which they say were in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war in Gaza with Iran-backed Hamas militants.
These include drone and missile strikes on US Navy ships in the region. So far, no Houthi attack is known to have damaged a US warship.