Expulsion orders in Gaza cut Palestinians off from clean water: UN
"As you are well aware over the weekend, the Israeli military issued another displacement order in Deir al-Balah spanning four neighborhoods... [dealing] yet another devastating blow to the already fragile lifeline keeping people alive across the Gaza Strip," Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
"This directive cuts through Deir al-Balah all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, further fragmenting the Strip and pushing people into overcrowded, unsafe areas with no shelter and no access to the most essential supplies needed to survive," he added. "Initial estimates indicate that between 50,000 to 80,000 people were in the area at the time the order was issued, including 30,000 families sheltering in 57 various displacement sites."
Within the newly designated areas is the Southern Gaza desalination plant and other vital water infrastructure. The plant is a main source of drinking water for internally displaced people in al-Mawasi, and it serves hundreds of thousands of people, producing about 2,500 cubic meters of water per day. The loss of this facility would be catastrophic for the people who depend on it for access to fresh water," Dujarric said.
"As of early July, 80 percent of water sanitation and hygiene facilities fall within the Israeli militarised zone or in areas that have been placed under displacement orders".
Guterres, meanwhile, stated on Monday that he is "appalled by the accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where the last lifelines keeping people alive are collapsing".
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