Ref: 110/2014
Date: 31 July 2014
Time: 07:00 GMT

Israeli Offensive on the Gaza Strip Continues: Civilians on the Verge of Humanitarian Crisis, Power Outage Denies Civilians’ Access to Water and Sewage Services; Over 1.6 Million Civilians Have No Access to Water Services for over a Week

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) calls upon the international community and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to immediately intervene to stop war crimes committed by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians and protect civilians from a humanitarian crisis caused by the almost complete power outage, including the civilians’ inability to access potable water services, sanitation facilities and environmental services. PCHR also calls upon the international community to exert pressure on Israeli authorities to allow civilians’ access to medicine, food, and necessary materials for the power plant, water and sewage facilities that Israeli forces destroyed.

The humanitarian situation of civilians in the Gaza Strip is deteriorating day by day, especially after Israeli forces had bombed the only power plant in the Gaza Strip on 28 July 2014. The attack caused extensive damage to the boilers and fuel tanks which caught fire, due to which the power plant shut down. Furthermore, Israeli forces destroyed 6 of the electricity lines which provide the Gaza Strip with electricity from Israel, which increased the power plant’s shortage up to 90%. As a result, most of the vital facilities like potable water, health, and sewage services were almost completely shut down and became dependant on generators.

Monther Shublaq, Director of the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU), said:
“There are approximately 1.6 million Palestinian civilians who are suffering a disastrous humanitarian situation for a week; half of them have been denied access to potable water services for two weeks like in the centre and east of Gaza City. Our technical staffs have stopped work as they were targeted and could not access water and sewage facilities. We are gravely concerned over the possibility of a humanitarian crisis that threatens civilians’ lives since the sewage facilities were shut down. Moreover, many areas, including Jablia, Beit Lahia, Rafah, and Gaza City, witnessed overflows of sewage water. The power outage obstructs the water and sewage facilities, especially as the main water tanks which feed the Strip are located in the north and east of the Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces moved into. We are unable to access the water and sewage facilities which were destroyed to conduct damage evaluation and reparations.”

The main services and needs of civilians are on the verge of a humanitarian crisis, especially the health sector, including hospitals, which are fully dependant on generators. This coincided with the increasing need for fuel, the increasing number of casualties, and the severe shortage of medical supplies in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of Palestinians stand in lines for hours in front of bakeries to get bread. Some of the bakeries stopped operating due to the power outage and the lack of fuel to operate generators. Furthermore, garbage is billing up in the streets as it cannot be transferred to the main dumpsters that are located in the east of the Gaza Strip, and because a number of municipality staffs were targeted. Several health hazards could result from the piled garbage.

According to PCHR’s follow-up of the humanitarian situation during the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, the deterioration of the economic and social conditions of civilians and the systematic denial of basic life requirements of the civilians’ adequate standards of living, including food, potable water, health care, and security, PCHR has observed the following:

• 1.8 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip suffer in all aspects of life, including health, water and environmental services;
• 1.6 million Palestinians civilians experience a disastrous humanitarian situation because they have not had access to water for a week; more than half of them have been denied access to water for over 2 weeks as in the center and east of Gaza city, Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia, east of the Central Gaza Strip, Khan Younis, and Rafah;
• Approximately 400,000 civilians, who constitute 22% of the population, suffer a state of panic as they escaped death during Israeli attacks and left their homes to stay in UNRWA schools and at their relatives’ homes. The displaced families lack basic living needs, including clothes, mattresses, blankets, and water necessary for their daily household use;
• The health conditions in the Gaza Strip are deteriorating on a large scale because of the inability to find adequate alternatives to compensate the power outage. Moreover, the health sector suffers a severe shortage in medication supplies due to the large number of casualties during the offensive. The wounded and the patients, who have chronic diseases, suffer in reaching medical centers. The majority of those centers are now closed due to the deterioration of the security situation, the centers’ inability to provide medication, and the lack of medical crews that cannot reach the places where they work;
• The lives of hundreds of patients in Palestinian hospitals are endangered because medical equipment, especially in the intensive care unit and internal medicine sections, is disrupted due to the power outage and the shortage of fuel necessary for the power generators;
• Technical personnel working for municipalities and village councils are unable to reach the destroyed water and sewage facilities. Those local councils suffer a fuel shortage that is necessary for operating water and sewage facilities. Drinking water has become inaccessible to many civilians due to the shutdown of many water desalination plants and their personnel’s inability to access major water tanks in the Strip;
• The bakeries have partially stopped work due to the power outage for long hours and the unavailability of fuel necessary to operate generators. In the past three days, long crowded lines of civilians stood before bakeries for hours to meet their needs for bread; and
• The residents of multi-storey buildings which depend on elevators have suffered due to the power outage, especially the elderly and those who have chronic diseases.

PCHR calls upon the international community and human rights organizations to immediately intervene to stop war crimes committed by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians and protect civilians from a humanitarian catastrophe caused by the almost complete power outage that has been going on for the last three days including the inability to access drinking water services, health facilities, and environmental services. PCHR also calls upon the international community to exert pressure on Israeli military authorities to allow the access of medicine, food, and necessary materials for the power station, water facilities, and sewage facilities that Israeli forces destroyed. Furthermore, PCHR calls upon international humanitarian organizations, including the UN agencies, to take necessary measures to protect 400,000 civilians, i.e. 22% of the population of the Gaza Strip, who left their homes during Israeli military operations. The displaced civilians lack basic humanitarian services including cloths, mattresses, blankets, and water.