On Thursday, the Gaza municipality warned of a “serious health and environmental catastrophe” due to the accumulation of thousands of tons of waste in Gaza, as Israel’s attacks continued for the twentieth day in a row.

A statement issued by the municipality, a copy of which was received by Xinhua News Agency today, stated that large quantities of waste are accumulating in Gaza City and temporary dumps “due to the Israeli occupation preventing municipal crews from reaching the main dump in the Juhr al-Dik area, east of the city,” warning that this It may "cause a serious health and environmental catastrophe."

The statement stated that the amount of waste amounted to about 16 thousand tons and is currently being collected in two temporary centers, and there are areas from which waste has not been collected due to the difficulty and danger of reaching them as a result of the ongoing Israeli attack.

It explained that about 50 percent of the waste accumulated in the streets was collected, noting that the municipality is operating at nearly half capacity due to the lack of fuel necessary to operate the machinery.

The statement added that the ongoing Israeli attack is causing major and severe crises in various basic services due to power outages, fuel shortages, and damage to many water and sanitation facilities.