Due to power shortage, wastewater treatment plants are no longer fully functional. Without the treatment, wastewater, contaminated with feces, gets pumped directly into the sea. This affects the public health of people in Gaza. It also deprives people from their main recreational spot – the beach. In the photo, two boys are fishing in the polluted seawater.
Nidal Al-Wahidi/ICRC
Beit Hanoun - North Gaza Strip
Due to lengthy power cuts, housewives are resorting to traditional means to carry out the household work. This includes cooking on using firewood or the light of a torch. In the photo, a Palestinian woman is cooking on firewood.
Abdelhakim Abu Ryash/ICRC
Al-Shifa Hospital - Gaza City
Due to lengthy power cuts, hospital units have to operate various equipment with the support of generators. With operating times being reduced, patients needing dialysis are affected. In the photo, a Palestinian woman is seen exhausted during a dialysis session at Al-Shifa hospital.
Mohammed Al-Hajjar/ICRC
Al-Shejaeya - Gaza City
Freelance workers are affected by the power shortage. It is a huge challenge for construction workers who have to work during nights. Employers might also substitute the power of certain machinery with physical force to ensure the work is done. In the photo, construction workers are working using torchlight.
Ateyya Darwish/ICRC
Al-Nusairat – Gaza Strip
Gaza’s Power Plant was founded in 1998 in Al-Nusairat area. It used to provide power to Gaza city and the central area of the Gaza Strip. It does not however cover the needs of the entire population and is currently not operating.
Mohammed Al-Hajjar/ICRC
Al-Sheikh Ejleen - Central Gaza
Due to power shortages, wastewater treatment equipment is no longer functioning, leading to pumping of wastewater contaminated with feces into the sea without treatment. This affects the public health of people in Gaza but also deprives them from their main recreational spot, the beach. In the photo, waste water directly pouring into the sea without treatment.
Samar Abul Auf/ICRC
Al-Shati’ Camp- Gaza City
People in Gaza nowadays only receive 4-6 hours of electricity a day. In the photo, children are studying in the torchlight.
Abdelhakim Abu Ryash/ICRC
Al-Shifa Hospital - Gaza city
On normal days, the operation room at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza conducts close to seven cardiac catheterisations per day. Due to power shortage, however, the number of daily operations has been reduced to fit the electricity timetable. In the photo, doctors are performing a cardiac catheterisation .
Severe power and fuel shortage has reached a critical point in Gaza, endangering essential services including health care, wastewater treatment and water provision.
Without immediate intervention, a public health and environment crisis is looming. Currently, people in Gaza only have power for six hours a day, in most cases. All aspects of life in Gaza have been affected. As a result, a systemic collapse of an already battered infrastructure and economy is impending.
