Israel has cut the supply of drinking water to Gaza on Wednesday without providing justification, Middle East Monitor reported citing Quds Press.
Maher Salem, the Director of Gaza’s Water Authority, told Quds Press that Mekorot, the Israeli water provider, had informed them that a maintenance would cause a two-hour suspension but the water hadn’t returned since.
He also said that around 200,000 Palestinians depend on Merkot as an agreement was signed with the provider last year.
The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade for more than a decade and water sources are limited as Israel uses the underground water in Gaza which causes farmers’ irrigation wells to collapse. Furthermore, farmers are banned to dig wells that exceed 100 meters in depth in order to avoid further collapse.
In 2017, the UN warned that their initial estimation of Gaza becoming “uninhabitable” by 2020 might be approaching faster than expected if residents’ basic needs are not ensured.