PERSONAL: ‘There is no life without water' - Gaza's water scarcity adds to daily challenges of displaced Palestinian

Record ID: 1891446

  • Title: PERSONAL: ‘There is no life without water' - Gaza's water scarcity adds to daily challenges of displaced Palestinian
  • Date: 20th December 2024
  • Summary: KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (DECEMBER 19, 2024) (REUTERS) BUCKETS NEXT TO RUBBLE VARIOUS OF DISPLACED PALESTINIAN WOMAN, MAKRAM HAMDOUNA, WALKING WITH BUCKET IN AREA WHERE SHE IS SHELTERING CLOTHES HANGING ON A WASHING LINE AMONG THE RUBBLE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN WOMAN, MAKRAM HAMDOUNA, 54, SAYING: “The situation is bad; the situation is bad. What can we do? We w
  • Embargoed: 3rd January 2025 07:55
  • Keywords: Gaza Israel Palestinians displaced military tents water
  • Location: KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA
  • City: KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA
  • Country: Palestinian Occupied Territory
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
  • Reuters ID: LVA001834119122024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:In southern Gaza's Khan Younis, 54-year-old Makram Hamdouna spends her days in an endless search for water among the ruins.
    "The situation is bad; the situation is bad... Sometimes there is no water. Sometimes there is water. The water is scarce. The water situation is very bad," Hamdouna, displaced from Gaza City, said.
    "Water is life. Without water, life is very much destroyed. There is no life without water," she added from the makeshift shelter surrounded by rubble where she now lives.
    The situation has become increasingly desperate for Hamdouna, who sometimes shares just two buckets of water with tens of people - water which is not always clean, she said.
    On Thursday (December 19), Human Rights Watch said Israel had killed thousands of Palestinians in Gaza by denying them clean water which it says legally amounts to acts of genocide and extermination.
    Israel's foreign ministry accused the rights group of lying, saying Israel had facilitated the continuous flow of water and humanitarian aid into Gaza since the start of the war despite constant attacks by Hamas.
    Israel started its air and ground assault on Gaza after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
    Israel's campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health minister. The campaign has displaced most of the 2.3 million population and reduced much of the coastal enclave to ruins.
    (Production : Hatem Khaled, Bassam Masoud, Nesrine Bathish, Jihed Abidellaoui)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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