GAZA (Palestine Foundation Information Center) The Gaza Municipality has warned of a catastrophic situation in the rainwater collection pool in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of the city, which signals an escalation of the environmental, health, and humanitarian crisis in the area.
In a statement on Tuesday, the municipality indicated that water levels in the pool have reached a dangerous threshold with the ongoing influx of wastewater, coinciding with the return of displaced persons to the city and expectations of increased rainfall, which threatens to overflow the pool.
The statement noted that the pool is suffering from rising quantities of wastewater, leading to critical water levels that threaten to flood surrounding neighborhoods and areas, in addition to negatively impacting the aquifer, polluting the environment, and spreading diseases.
The municipality pointed out that the Israeli occupation’s prevention of necessary pipes for maintaining the pool’s drainage line hinders the discharge of excess water and rerouting of wastewater, and thus exacerbating the problem.
It was also highlighted that repeated Israeli bombardments have destroyed wastewater treatment stations and electrical generators in the pool, damaging the pumping system, with significant losses in 4 out of 6 pumps.
The Gaza Municipality appealed to the international community and relevant organizations for urgent intervention to save the situation in the Sheikh Radwan pool. It called for the facilitation of pipe entry, provision of technical and financial support for repairing the damaged infrastructure, and the necessary equipment for operating and maintaining the pool, as well as working to provide a sustainable electricity source to operate the water pumps so that municipal teams can carry out comprehensive maintenance of the pumping system in the pool.
The Gaza Municipality faces significant obstacles in repairing damages and operating external pumps due to a shortage of fuel, machinery, equipment, and necessary pipes, a consequence of the 15-month-long war. According to the municipality, 132 of its vehicles have been destroyed and rendered inoperable since the onset of the Israeli war, accounting for 85% of the municipality’s total vehicles.
