Man carries a portable water reservoir in front of rubble in Gaza, August 11, 2014. Picture by Khader Ibrahim/ABACA/PA Images. All rights reserved.
Palestinian water crisis on track to worsen
Following the Palestinian Authority’s April 26th announcement that it will immediately stop funding the Gaza Strip's electricity, purchased from Israel, Gaza’s already catastrophic humanitarian situation is poised to worsen. The move is seen by many as a shortsighted attempt by PA President Mahmoud Abbas to exert pressure on Hamas in an effort to show strength before his meeting with US President Donald Trump, which took place on May 3rd. Vital services dependent on emergency generators, such as dialysis for 620 kidney patients, are now threatened. Furthermore, Gaza’s longstanding, already-dire water crisis could be pushed over the brink by such a large-scale electricity shortage. Periodically, whenever a funding crisis threatens electricity shut-downs in Gaza—and like clockwork around this time of year as the Middle East heads into summer and temperatures begin to rise—the water crisis that plagues Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank day in and day out makes it into the headlines.
