UN-funded mural highlights Gaza water crisis

By Noor Abu Aisha

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - A mural has been inaugurated in the blockaded Gaza Strip this week in an effort to shed the light on the escalating water crisis in the Palestinian territory.

Five artists have participated in painting the 25-meter high mural, which is funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“We are trying to find a solution to the water problem in the Gaza Strip,” Monther Shublaq, the director of Gaza’s Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU), said during a ceremony held on Thursday.

Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has groaned under a crippling Israeli blockade that has deprived the enclave’s roughly 1.9 million inhabitants of basic commodities, including food, fuel and medicine.

The territory’s water infrastructure has almost shuddered under the decade-long siege and three major Israeli offensives since 2008.

Shublaq said Palestinian water sources are controlled by Israel.

“This is the main reason of the water problem in the Gaza Strip,” he said.

Shublaq went on to accuse Israel of banning the entry of equipment needed to carry out water projects in the Gaza Strip.