OXFAM WARNS OF WATER, FOOD SHORTAGE IN GAZA
Gaza City, 26 Ramadan 1435/24 July 2014 (MINA) – Water and food supplies in the besieged Gaza Strip are dangerously low, says the UK-based charity organization Oxfam.
Oxfam said on Wednesday that more than 120,000 Gazans have been forced out of their homes and have nowhere to go due to Israeli-imposed blockade of the coastal enclave, Press TV quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting Thursday.
“The terrible toll on civilians is shocking. Hospitals and water supplies are under massive strain and the needs are increasing by the day. People are fleeing terrified,” said Nishant Pandey, Oxfam’s head in occupied Palestinian territories.
Pandey noted that there was no way for the displaced to escape the violence in the densely-populated sliver.
“Lasting peace and security for both sides means ending the blockade and the collective punishment of people in Gaza.”
One million are left without water as raw sewage could pollute the remaining water due to the destruction of sanitation plants, said the charity organization, adding that only half of the enclave’s sewage plants are working.
The charity group said that most of the sliver has electricity for four hours a day or less, and that it was sending water supplies to 19,000 people who were taking shelter in a mosque, a church, schools, and al-Shifa hospital, citing the difficulties it faced to deliver aid due to airstrikes.
Israeli warplanes have been carrying out incessant airstrikes against the blockaded Gaza Strip since July 8. On July 17, thousands of Israeli soldiers launched a ground invasion into the impoverished territory.
So far, more than 700 people have been killed and thousands others injured by the Israeli regime’s offensive against the coastal sliver despite pressure from the international community.
The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, has been launching retaliatory attacks against Israel. (T/E01/IR)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
