One million displaced people inside Deir al-Balah suffer daily from water scarcity

Yasmine Abu Warda, a little girl at the age of roses, goes on a daily journey of suffering to secure water for her family.

Displaced Saleh Shurab: The water we bottle is polluted, but we have to drink it and bathe with it

Deir al-Balah Municipality: 10 wells that served 60% of the displaced and citizens are out of service

Barefoot, little Yasmine Abu Warda waits for long hours in the water line, sweat dripping from her forehead and fatigue evident on her face, just to fill one gallon of water.

In a childlike voice full of innocence, Yasmine tells “I” and “Al-Quds” Dot Com the details of her arduous journey to fill a gallon of water: “I wake up at dawn and walk long distances to reach the water filling point, then I stand in line until it is my turn and I am able to fill it.”

The displacement journeys that Yasmine went through, starting from her home in northern Gaza, and not ending inside a tent in the city of Deir al-Balah in the middle of the Gaza Strip, made her grow several years older and bear a responsibility greater than her age.

She continued: “When I fill the water gallon, I carry it in my hand. I get tired halfway through, then I rest for a few moments, then I continue walking, and so on until I reach our tent and empty it into a large container.”

A never ending journey of misery

The hardship and suffering did not end yet. After Yasmine managed to win the gallon of water, she returned again to fill it, in order to meet her family’s water needs for a whole day, and the same situation was repeated every day.

When asked how she feels when she accomplishes this task, Yasmine tells “Y”: “I feel very happy when I fill my family’s bags. I feel like I have achieved a great accomplishment that deserves to be celebrated.”

Saleh Shurab, a displaced person from Jabalia camp, north of the Gaza Strip, holds a water tap inside a tent in Deir al-Balah, filling water for displaced people inside the camp. He tells Al-Quds.com: “I wait in line for two hours or more to fill a 16-litre gallon.”

"How much water will a gallon of water be for a family of ten?" he asks anxiously.

Shurab adds: “The water we bottle is polluted and we have to drink it. We use it to wash dishes and shower despite its pollution. What can we do? There is no alternative to this water, and thank God we have it.”

He continues: “Once a week, a car comes to the camp to fill up drinking water, and all the displaced people rush to get it, but it is not enough for all of them.”

As for what they do when the water is cut off and they are unable to fill it, Shurab says: “We have to walk long distances to reach Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, and we only fill one gallon, trying to manage our daily affairs with it.”

The real disaster is the destruction of infrastructure.

The real disaster that all the displaced people in the Gaza Strip are suffering from, especially in the crowded city of Deir al-Balah, is the destruction of the infrastructure by the Israeli occupation.

“The displaced people are digging wells next to their tents, and the sewage water is floating and mixing with the ground water, so they are drinking contaminated water,” Shurab says.

Shurab, like all the displaced, demands that the institutions and organizations authorized to provide water urgently, not to mention pressuring the occupation to bring in enough fuel to operate the generators to pump water to the entire Gaza Strip.

Shurab’s tragic situation is no different from that of the displaced Mahdi Rustum from the town of Al-Qarara, east of Khan Yunis. He wakes up at dawn and goes to the mosque after traveling long distances.

Rustum tells Al-Quds.com the details of his ordeal: “I pray Fajr and put my gallon in the waiting line. The water comes at eleven in the morning, so I wait my turn until it comes and I fill it.”

He added: “The municipal water does not reach the area I was displaced to, due to the heavy shelling there, so I have to walk long distances and only fill one gallon, which is not enough for our daily needs, and many times our entire lives stop because of the water.”

He continues: “However, the water we bottle is not fit for drinking. My children have developed skin diseases, not to mention that the biggest problem is that when I went to all the hospitals and pharmacies, I did not find the necessary treatment and medicines.”

Displacement from the eastern regions to Deir al-Balah

In turn, the director of the Deir al-Balah Municipality Emergency Committee, Ismail Sarsour, told Al-Quds.com: “Ten wells belonging to the municipality have gone out of service, due to the Israeli occupation’s reduction of safe areas and forcing citizens to move from the eastern areas of the city.”

He added: "We are suffering greatly from water scarcity, as the ten wells used to serve 60% of the displaced and citizens, and now we are living a real disaster."

He continued: "A million displaced people and citizens inside the city suffer daily and greatly from water scarcity."

He stressed that the Israeli occupation's closure of the crossings is the main reason for the water crisis. He said: "We are suffering from a shortage of fuel and spare parts needed to operate generators and pumps to provide water."

Sarsour appealed to all international institutions and human rights organizations to intervene urgently to bring in fuel and spare parts needed to solve the water problem, pointing out that the city has become fertile ground for the spread of diseases and epidemics, especially in schools and shelters.