More than two million Palestinians in Gaza are at risk as water runs out -UNRWA says

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned that more than two million Palestinian people in Gaza Strip are at risk as water runs out.

“Clean water is running out in the Gaza Strip, after its water plant and public water networks stopped working. People are now forced to use dirty water from wells, increasing risks of waterborne diseases. Gaza has also been under an electricity blackout since 11 October, impacting the water supply,” UNRWA said in a statement Sunday.

“It has become a matter of life and death. It is a must; fuel needs to be delivered now into Gaza to make water available for 2 million people,” said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General.

According to UNRWA, only in the past few hours, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian people have been displaced. The wave of displacement continues as nearly one million people have been displaced in one week.

UNRWA stressed the need not to attack civilians, hospitals, schools, clinics and United Nations facilities, and indicated that their shelters in central and northern Gaza are no longer safe, calling this unprecedented.