With no chlorine, Gazans must boil water
By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, 2008 February 27, 12:51 PM ET
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - The Gaza Strip has run short of chlorine because of an Israeli
blockade and its 1.5 million people should start boiling their drinking water to purify it, the
territory's water utility said Wednesday.
The Coastal Municipality Water Utility made the announcement in radio and newspaper
advertisements, telling residents that the blockade has left Gaza without enough
equipment and supplies needed to maintain the water system. Officials said there have
been no deliveries of chlorine, needed to purify the water, since Jan. 21. More than one-
third of Gaza's water supply is now untreated, said Maher Najjar, deputy director of the
utility.
Najjar said 52 of 140 wells used to supply water to Gaza residents were out of chlorine. "I
expect by the week's end all the wells will run dry of chlorine," he said.
The authority said there is a "major concern over a health disaster due to possible
contamination of the drinking water" and appealed to the international community for
help.
The Israeli military said the Palestinians did not make a request for chlorine until
Wednesday, and it was urgently trying to arrange a new shipment into Gaza.
Most residents already don't have regular water supplies because of a shortage of fuel
used to pump water. Many people already use filters or bottled water because the quality
of tap water is generally poor.
Israel imposed sanctions on Gaza after the Islamic militant Hamas seized power last June.
Israel has tightened its blockade in recent weeks in response to repeated rocket attacks
on southern Israel by Gaza militants.
On Wednesday, an Israeli student was killed in a rocket barrage on a college just outside
Gaza, after seven Palestinians, including five Hamas militants, were killed in Israeli
airstrikes.
Under the sanctions, Israel, the main gateway for Gaza's imports and exports, has allowed
little more than basic humanitarian goods to enter the territory. It also has reduced fuel
and electricity supplies to Gaza.
Most Gaza residents who can afford to do so filter Gaza's salty, brackish tap water before
drinking it. However, that does not kill the bacteria, Najjar said.
He said the real danger were children drinking untreated water.
"I can't stop people drinking the water," Najjar said.
In an area used to shortages and hardship, residents did not seem especially panicked.
"For 16 years I've been boiling the water," said Mohammed Masoud, a restaurant owner.
"I'm not worried about the poison in the water — everything here is already poisonous,"
Masoud said.
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