Palestine: Israeli politics harm sanitation in Gaza
Published on Wed, 2012-07-11 08:53
Amjad al-Shawwa of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO, focal point of Social Watch in the occupied territories) says the Israeli regime is responsible for the deteriorating sanitary conditions in the besieged Gaza Strip, Press TV reported. Al-Shawwa, resident in Gaza City, declared on Sunday that the besieged Palestinian territory seriously needs help from the “international community” with regard to its poor sanitation. “Our children are growing in very bad conditions,” he said. “Israel is completely responsible for what is happening in Gaza.” Many Gazans, especially young people, have developed pulmonary diseases in recent years as a result of the stench emanating from untreated solid waste, according to Gaza health officials. Mohammad al-Moghari of the Environmental Quality Authority in Gaza also told Press TV on Sunday that solid waste management is in a terrible condition due to the Israeli blockade. “Problems resulting from the bad environmental conditions are piling up day after day and are endangering the lives of Gazans,” he said. The Israeli regime denies about 1.7 million people in the besieged Palestinian territory their basic rights, including the freedom of movement and the right to decent living, work, health and education, according to the PNGO. “The Gaza community is suffering from poverty-related diseases and illnesses, such as malnutrition, anemia and sanitary related diseases which were aggravated due to conditions associated with the current closure resulted in the deterioration of the sanitary conditions. Recent reports indicate worrying signals for increasing predisposition to water-borne diseases, sanitary related diseases and illnesses resulted from poverty such as nutritional deficiencies. All these constitute threats which require standardized interventions,” warned the PNGO yet in 2009. “Gaza people live under dire conditions. The Israeli government has stopped virtually everything (except occasionally allowing some basic foodstuff and some medicines to get into Gaza), as well as almost all citizens, from entering and leaving the Gaza Strip. Late in 2007, Israeli declared the Gaza Strip an ‘hostile entity’. The Israeli government subsequently reduced the supply of fuel and electricity to the Gaza Strip resulting in further destruction of the already exhausted economy and distortion of basic services including health and sanitary services,” reported the Network then. Sources |
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