KUALA LUMPUR - The Gaza Strip continues to face a severe crisis in water, fuel, food, and electricity supply, and seeking safe drinking water is akin to a ‘suicide mission’ as residents who do so face the risk of being targeted by hidden Israeli snipers, reported the Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA).
Ibrahim Abu Mustafa, 14, described how his father, Ahmad Abu Mustafa, 40, was killed while securing a water tank to his bicycle. The tragedy struck on Jan 28, as his father and neighbours ventured out from their shelter in the Khan Younis refugee camp to fetch water.
Ibrahim, now living in the Rafah refugee camp, recalled hearing gunshots soon after his father and a neighbour left to get water.
"Shortly after, we were informed that my father and his friend had been killed by the Zionist regime,” he said.
"We could only watch from a distance as the bodies of my father and his friend lay stiff on the highway. We couldn’t call an ambulance because the phone lines were blocked, and ambulances struggled to navigate streets filled with concrete debris,” he said.
A similar incident befell Hamid Naim al-Qudrat, 30, in Khan Younis while he was out looking for water on Jan 25.
According to al-Qudrat's family members, Hamid went out with a water tank to the Red Cross hospital about 200 metres from his home to fill it up, but unfortunately became a target of Zionist snipers.
Muhammad Said and Mahir al-Ghul also fell victim while searching for water in the Shaykh Ridwan residential area in Gaza in mid-November last year.
Witness Nizar al-Ghul said: "They both carried several water tanks to be filled and distributed to neighbours. As soon as they crossed al-Thani street, they were fired upon by Zionist tanks stationed there. Their bodies lay there for two days before they could be buried in the courtyard of Shaykh Ridwan clinic.”
The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) warned in December that the lack of access to clean water is a matter of life and death for children in Gaza, who have almost no water to drink.
This humanitarian warning came after more than 10 weeks of Israeli siege and continuous Zionist soldier attacks in Gaza, which have claimed over 27,000 lives, including women and children, with 67,000 more injured since Oct 7, 2023. - BERNAMA