Weakened by hunger, many Gazans trek across a ruined landscape each day to haul all their drinking and washing water. But with supply scarce, the average water consumption is a fraction of minimum emergency needs and polluted aquifers are rapidly spreading disease.

Jerusalem

Israel and Iran have agreed a ceasefire after a twelve day conflict. Meanwhile, Israel strikes in Gaza continue with the humanitarian crisis deepening.

Middle East Conflict

Residents in Gaza are experiencing acute water shortages, with many families queuing for hours to collect water that is often insufficient and unsafe. The crisis has been exacerbated by damaged pipelines and polluted aquifers, leaving most people with far less water than the minimum emergency standards set by the World Health Organization.

Aid groups report that diseases such as diarrhoea and hepatitis are spreading as people rely on brackish, contaminated water. While some efforts, such as a new pipeline funded by the United Arab Emirates, are underway, aid agencies stress that much more assistance is needed to address the crisis, which they describe as deadly and worsening.

Terrible thirst hits Gaza with polluted aquifers, broken pipelines

Moaz Mukhaima says he queues for two hours, two or three times a day, to collect water for his extended family of 20 displaced in central Gaza. He is among many Gazans, already weakened by hunger, who trek across a ruined landscape each day, hauling all their drinking and washing water, and what they can drag is still far below the levels needed to keep people healthy. It is a big crisis, a big crisis, whether it is fresh clean water or salty water, especially in the summer when most of our people's needs are water, and we suffer from it greatly, every day. God help us. While a famine scenario is unfolding in the enclave, aid groups say the water crisis is just as severe. Some water comes from small desalination units, but most is drawn from wells, brackish, and polluted by sewage and chemicals that have seeped through the rubble. Diseases like diarrhoea and hepatitis are spreading. Moaz's mother, Umm, rations the water in their tent. The children keep coming and going, and it is hot, they keep wanting to drink, she says. Who knows if tomorrow we will be able to fill up again. The family's struggle for water is replicated across the tiny crowded territory. Nearly everybody is living in temporary shelters, without sewage or hygiene facilities, and not enough water to drink, cook, and wash. Israel stocked all water and electricity supply to Gaza early in the war. Some supply has resumed, though the pipeline network in the territory has been badly damaged. Oxfam's Bushra Khalidi said the average water consumption in Gaza is now three to five litres a day. The minimum that a normal person like you and I should use in average a day is 100 litres. That is the minimum standard. The minimum emergency standard is 15 litres a day. So we are five times still three to five times less than the minimum emergency standard set by the WHO. Average daily consumption in Israel is around 247 litres a day, according to Israeli rights group B'Tselem. A new water pipeline, funded by the United Arab Emirates, is planned to serve 600,000 people in southern Gaza from a desalination plant in Egypt, but it could take several more weeks to be connected. Aid agencies, meanwhile, say much more is needed. A spokesperson for UNICEF said the long-term deprivations were becoming deadly, and that starvation and dehydration are, quote, no longer side effects of this conflict, they are very much front-line effects.

President Trump has been briefed about the shooting at Fort Stewart in Georgia, the White House press secretary says. At least five soldiers were shot before a suspect was apprehended, officials say.

Fort Stewart

Five soldiers shot at Fort Stewart in Georgia; suspect apprehended

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Moscow

Ukraine Invasion

Witkoff, Putin had 'useful and constructive conversation'

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Washington

NASA races to put nuclear reactors on Moon and Mars

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Hiroshima

Hiroshima marks 80th anniversary since U.S. atomic bombing

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Beijing

U.S. warns travelers as cases of chikungunya increase in China

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Japan’s Hiroshima marks 80 years since U.S. atomic bombing

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Kyiv

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Jackson

Suspect arrested in murders of 4 Tennessee family members

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State of Rio de Janeiro

Brazil's Supreme Court orders house arrest of Bolsonaro

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Beirut

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Ottawa

Canadian military makes aid drop into Gaza

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Geneva

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Global Tariffs

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Tel Aviv-Yafo

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Rome

Pope Leo XIV addresses Gaza, Ukraine at youth festival

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Sana'a

Migrant boat sinks off Yemen, killing at least 68

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Santa Barbara

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Kamchatka Peninsula

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New outbreaks of violence overnight into Sunday (August 3) rocked Syria straining a fragile ceasefire. Meanwhile residents in Sweida are calling access to more humanitarian aid.

Terrible thirst hits Gaza with polluted aquifers, broken pipelines

Breakdown

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Middle East Conflict