Gaza Municipality Warns of Unprecedented Humanitarian and Environmental Disaster Due to Weather Depression
The spokesperson for Gaza City Municipality, Husni Mahna, warned of an unprecedented humanitarian and environmental disaster hitting the city as successive weather depressions continue.
Mahna told the Palestinian “Shehab” Agency on Monday that the rainstorms have turned into an extreme emergency amid the near-total collapse of operational capacity and the destruction of 85 percent of Gaza City’s infrastructure.
He revealed that the municipality is currently operating with “almost non-existent” capabilities, with its operational capacity not exceeding 15 percent of what it was before the Zionist aggression, following the destruction of 135 vehicles and machinery.
Mahna explained that the sewage and stormwater drainage system is now functioning at only 20 percent of its capacity, after the Israeli enemy destroyed all eight drainage pumping stations and approximately 212,000 linear meters of networks, leaving the city vulnerable to flooding and sewage overflow with every rainfall.
He noted that intensified winds and heavy rain are multiplying the risks to the lives of thousands of displaced people living in dilapidated tents and buildings on the verge of collapse, stressing that the continuation of this situation has already resulted in casualties due to the collapse of homes inhabited by residents out of necessity, in the absence of alternatives.
Mahna added that despite the destruction of 830 kilometers of roads, Gaza City Municipality crews—numbering 1,250 employees—continue to work around the clock to open passageways and remove rubble, despite the enemy targeting municipal staff and the martyrdom of dozens of them, and amid a severe financial crisis preventing employees from receiving regular salaries due to the complete halt of revenues.
The Gaza City Municipality spokesperson called on the international community to intervene immediately to save what remains of the city, stressing the urgent need to allow the entry of heavy machinery, maintenance equipment, and fuel, and to provide safe shelter solutions for residents before the worsening health and environmental catastrophe that threatens everyone.