UN warns water scarcity deadly risk to children in Gaza

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has cautioned that children in Gaza are seriously at risk due to limited access to clean water and sanitation in the midst of Israel’s ongoing assault.

The UN Agency said on Wednesday that large numbers of displaced persons who were forced into the southern Gaza Strip by the conflict are only getting 1.5 to 2 liters of water per day, far less than what is needed for survival. It further stated that a great deal of vulnerable children are at risk of illness as a result of the crisis, which is exacerbated by the denial of relief and the devastation of infrastructure.

Hundreds of thousands of people—roughly half of whom are thought to be children—have been forced into the city of Rafah since early December as a result of Israel’s relentless assault across the enclave. According to UNICEF, these individuals are in dire need of food, water, shelter, medical care, and protection. The city’s water and sanitation infrastructure are in grave danger due to the increasing demand.

According to UNICEF, three liters a day are needed to survive. If one includes the water needed for cooking and washing, the total increases to 15 liters.

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russel said “Access to sufficient amounts of clean water is a matter of life and death, and children in Gaza have barely a drop to drink.

“Children and their families are having to use water from unsafe sources that are highly salinized or polluted. Without safe water, many more children will die from deprivation and disease in the coming days.”

Using unsafe water and lack of hygiene is a “dramatic” risk factor for children, who are more vulnerable to waterborne disease, dehydration and malnutrition, according to UNICEF.

Humanitarian aid deliveries simply do not meet the needs of the population for basic survival. This causes a shortage in water and hygiene products that is further compounded by the fact that a large percentage of sanitation facilities have been either destroyed or simply cannot accommodate the large number of displaced Palestinians congregating in specific locations.

Doctors and aid workers have been warning of the spread of disease and epidemics, since the start of Israel’s “indiscriminate” bombing campaign after Hamas’s October 7 Hamas attacks.

According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), from November 29 to December 10, cases of diarrhoea in children under five jumped 66 percent to 59,895, and increased by 55 percent for the rest of the population.

Last week, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported incidents of meningitis, chickenpox, jaundice, and upper respiratory tract illnesses.

The UN health agency warned that the data were likely incomplete due to a lack of complete information, with Gaza’s health system and other facilities on the verge of collapse.