While international bodies are concerned about the risk of water shortages in Gaza due to the Israeli blockade, LR MP Pierre-Henri Dumont affirms that Israel only delivers 8% of the water consumed in the territory. It’s more complicated.
The blockade implemented by Israel against the Gaza Strip worries international authorities. The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, insisted on Wednesday October 18 in Strasbourg that “suspending the water supply to a besieged community is contrary to international law”. “We cannot accept this”he said, as reported by several media including Le Figaro .
Les Républicains du Pas-de-Calais MP Pierre-Henri Dumont responded with figures on the social network X, formerly Twitter. “Normallyhe writes, Israel only delivers 8% of the water consumed in Gaza. The rest is delivered by Egypt or produced by the Gaza desalination plant. Factory which can no longer operate due to lack of fuel. Fuel that was delivered by the United Nations (UN) but stolen by Hamas for military use.” True or false ?
Normally, Israel only delivers 8% of the water consumed in Gaza.
The rest is delivered by Egypt or produced by the Gaza desalination plant.
Factory which can no longer operate due to lack of fuel. Fuel that was delivered by the UN but stolen by Hamas for military use https://t.co/zwUDtuTApk
— Pierre-Henri Dumont (@phdumont) October 18, 2023
Some 7% of available water including non-potable water
There are two parts in Pierre-Henri Dumont’s message, on the one hand the figures for the water supply in the Gaza Strip, on the other an accusation of fuel looting by Hamas. Let’s start with the water supply.
The information given by Pierre-Henri Dumont is partially true regarding deliveries from Israel and partially false for the rest. Contacted by franceinfo, the right-wing elected official explains that he obtained these figures from representatives of the Israeli government during his visit there. He is part of the French emergency parliamentary delegation which went to Israel after the Hamas attack on October 7.
From a certain point of view, its figures are close to those listed in the tables of the Palestinian Water Authority (EPA), a public authority created in 1995 by the Oslo Accords serving as regulator of water and sanitation in all Palestinian territories. According to her, Gaza purchased 14.4 million cubic meters of drinking water from Mekorot, the Israeli water company, in 2021, or almost 7% of the total water available that year in Gaza. (214.4 million cubic meters), but this also takes into account water which is not drinkable and therefore cannot be safely consumed by Gazans.
Some 13% of drinking water is reserved for the domestic sector
International authorities are observing the situation from another point of view, as evidenced by this document from the World Bank (in English) and several articles relaying the position of the United Nations. They compare the quantity of water delivered by Israel not to the overall quantity of water available but to the water which is only reserved for the domestic sector, which is therefore drunk or used in homes in particular, leaving aside the water consumed by the agricultural sector and water that is not potable.
From this point of view, Israeli water accounted for 13% of the water available in the Gaza Strip: 14.4 out of 113.3 million cubic meters of water available for the domestic sector, according to calculations. of the EPA. This is therefore more than what Pierre-Henri Dumont claims, even if it is true that this remains a fairly small part of the water reserved for the domestic sector.
On the other hand, contrary to what the elected official asserts, no trace of water delivery from Egypt has been recorded by the APE. The vast majority of water available in Gaza, domestic and agricultural sectors combined, comes from groundwater extraction wells (192.5 million cubic meters, almost 90%). This water is largely drawn from the coastal aquifer of the Gaza Strip – an aquifer that runs from Egypt to Israel along the Mediterranean Sea but the wells are in Gaza and not in neighboring countries. However, almost all of this water drawn from the coastal aquifer does not meet the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for drinking. The last 7.5 million cubic meters of water come from desalination plants which make sea water drinkable (3%).
Gazans drink polluted water from wells
The Israeli blockade therefore has a direct impact “only” on 7% or 13% of the water available in Gaza, depending on the point of view adopted. A small part but nevertheless a non-negligible part in a territory which is already constantly in constant shortage of water. In 2021, only half of Gazans’ domestic water needs could actually be met, according to the EPA. Residents needed 117.1 million cubic meters of water that year, but only 113.3 were available and almost half of that water was lost through faulty pipes or other reasons. In the end, Gazans only consumed 64.5 million cubic meters of water in 2021, missing 52.6 million cubic meters.
The Israeli blockade also has indirect consequences. First, Israel will no longer deliver bottled water to compensate for the usual water deficit. Then, the equipment to repair the infrastructure destroyed during the bombings cannot be transported. Finally, there is a lack of fuel to operate the usual infrastructure of the water network such as desalination plants but also wastewater treatment plants which make it possible to keep well water healthy. So as not to die of thirst, “People are forced to drink water that is unfit for drinking, since clean water is simply not available”according to Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA, in English). “We are on the brink of a major health crisis.”
United Nations office denies fuel theft
The lack of fuel is therefore one of the reasons why factories do not operate, as Pierre-Henri Dumont also wrote. However, his accusations against Hamas are not supported by the facts.
By saying that the “fuel that was delivered by the UN [a été] stolen by Hamas for military use”, MP LR relays information that has been denied. Several media outlets claimed that UNRWA had accused Hamas of stealing 24,000 liters of fuel. However, UNRWA never accused Hamas and has since denied any theft.
According to these media, UNRWA published a message on “group of people with trucks posing as representatives of the Ministry of Health took fuel and medical equipment from the agency based in Gaza City”. Tweet deleted before franceinfo could consult it.
THE coordinator of Israeli government activities in the territories (Cogat) took a screenshot of the message and claimed that “Hamas stole 24,000 liters of fuel from a hospital in Gaza”. The accusation against Hamas therefore comes from Cogat and not from the United Nations office.
The images circulating on social media were of a movement of basic medical supplies from the UNRWA warehouse to health partners. [2/2]
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) October 16, 2023
Less than four hours later, UNRWA deleted its tweet and published another to deny any theft. “UNRWA wishes to confirm that no looting has taken place in any of its warehouses in the Gaza Stripwrites the office . Images circulating on social media show the movement of medical equipment from an UNRWA warehouse to health partners.”