Gaza's looming crisis: Cholera and infectious diseases in the midst of a complete blockade

Oxfam and United Nations entities have issued a caution, expressing that the breakdown of water and sanitation provisions could lead to outbreaks of cholera and other life-threatening infectious illnesses unless immediate humanitarian assistance is provided.

Israel has cut off its water pipeline to Gaza, along with the fuel and electricity provisions that power water and sewage plants, after announcing a total blockade of Palestine following the Hamas attack, reports Al Jazeera.

The majority of Gaza's 65 sewage pumping stations and all five of its wastewater treatment facilities have been compelled to cease their operations. As per Oxfam, untreated sewage is currently being discharged into the sea, and solid waste is also accumulating on certain streets, alongside bodies awaiting burial.

Additionally, desalination plants have also stopped working and municipalities are unable to pump water to residential areas because of the power shortage, says Al Jazeera.

In Gaza, individuals are depending on salty tap water sourced from the region's sole aquifer, which is tainted with both sewage and seawater. Alternatively, some have turned to consuming seawater. In other cases, people are compelled to drink from agricultural wells.

An employee of the charity Islamic Relief who also found shelter in Khan Younis described a similar situation. "At my parents' house, there are around 20 children and seven adults sheltering. Even with so many people we only flush the toilet twice a day – once in the morning, once at night – to save water," she said, requesting anonymity.

"We cook food that uses the least water. We wash for prayers just once or twice," she added. "We have a neighbour with a well, but he doesn't have any electricity to pump the water. They've got a generator but no fuel."

For those who have no shelter, conditions are most dire. "There are families with children and newborn babies living without a roof over their heads," she said. "They just sit on the streets without protection, water, food or anything. They don't have any security."

Waseem Mushtaha, a water and sanitation officer for global non-profit Oxfam, sees the markers of an impending public health catastrophe all around him.

"Every day I fill a bottle of water for each one and I tell them: Try to manage this," he told Al Jazeera, speaking from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. "At the beginning, they struggled, but now they are coping."

After Israel issued an evacuation order for 1.1 million Palestinians in the northern part of Gaza, Mushtaha drove his wife and 4 children aged eight to 15 to his aunt's home in Khan Younis, where residents opened their doors to extended family and friends amid Israel's relentless aerial bombardment, says Al Jazeera.

"People sleep on the streets, in shops, in mosques, in their cars or on the streets," he said. His family lives alongside around 100 people crammed in a 200-square-metre apartment and count themselves among the lucky ones.

Essential hygiene items have also vanished from the limited supermarkets that remain open.

Additionally, the cost of water provided by private vendors, operating small solar-powered desalination facilities, has doubled since October 7, coinciding with Israel's retaliation against Hamas following their surprise attack. It used to cost 30 shekels ($7.40), but is now priced at 60 shekels ($15).

"We will go to the market and purchase whatever is available," he explained. "We are looking to the future with bleak eyes."

According to previous reports, in 2022, cholera spread across Syria and Lebanon, killing at least 97 people.

While an epidemic has not been registered in Palestinian territories in decades, "it's conceivable that the bacterium has been brought in and the conditions are now ripe for its spread," Brennan said.

For any efforts to turn the tide, "getting aid in is vital", the WHO representative added. "The ball is in the court of the political leaders who have to elevate humanitarian needs as a priority. We are ready to go, but we have to be given unhindered, secure, protected passage to help people in need."