Mosab al-Hindi has long been fighting to preserve water resources in the Gaza Strip. Here is the story of the water defender and his fight for water.
"Over 90 per cent of the water from the Gaza aquifer is not safe to drink without treatment, and most of the population depends on private vendors and private desalination plants to purchase drinking water. This means that water has become a privilege, no longer a right. That alone is enough to know that you cannot sit on your hands — you have to act, act now, because there is no time left."
Mosab al-Hindi is a young man of few words. Young, but carrying that wisdom that falls upon you if you were born in Gaza, the kind that makes you grow up fast. Mosab works for the Ma'an development center, an independent Palestinian organisation founded in January 1989. It focuses on research and development as well as training. Its main office is in Ramallah, but one of its branches is in Gaza. Ma'an's work is rooted in the need to create independent and self-sufficient initiatives that lead to the development of human resources for sustainable development, incorporating the values of self-sufficiency and self-empowerment. This approach also seeks to free Palestinians from dependence on international cooperation. And now, following the advent of the Trump administration in the United States and the sweeping budget cuts by international organisations, this vision is no longer merely desirable — it is also necessary.
If Mosab's words may sound alarmist or exaggerated to those unfamiliar with the situation in Gaza, one need only look at the latest United Nations documents on quality of life in the Strip. Five years ago, a number of UN studies raised the alarm: by 2020, the Gaza Strip could fall below the minimum threshold of access to resources needed to be considered habitable by human beings. With just a few months to go until the end of 2020, nothing has changed — in fact, the situation has worsened, partly due to the arrival of Covid-19.
"In Gaza, people are rummaging through rubbish," declared Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, just days ago. "More and more people are struggling to provide one or two meals a day to their families." The Gaza Strip covers an area of 360 square kilometres and has a population of nearly two million people — one of the most densely populated places on the planet per square kilometre. 56 per cent are children; nearly 80 per cent of families live below the poverty line and 74 per cent are refugees, living on aid from Unrwa, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.
Every day, Mosab works within this context. "I am the programme manager at the development centre; I manage many Wash and shelter projects aimed at supporting vulnerable families in having better access to their basic needs, particularly water. Access to drinking water is a critical problem in the Gaza Strip," Mosab explains. "In Gaza, the only natural source of water is the coastal aquifer, which is recharged solely by rainwater, and from which the population currently extracts almost three times the sustainable annual recharge. Over-pumping has led to a significant drop in the aquifer's water level, which in turn has caused increased saltwater intrusion as Mediterranean seawater enters and contaminates the aquifer. In the absence of adequate wastewater treatment facilities, the surface infiltration of raw sewage from wastewater collection basins further accelerates the rapid deterioration of the aquifer and poses a serious public health risk."
This is confirmed by the Israelis themselves, who have kept the Gaza Strip sealed off since 2007. On 3 June 2020, a group of researchers from the Israeli universities of Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion presented the report Health Risks Assessment for the Israeli Population following the Sanitary Crisis in Gaza, commissioned by the environmental organisation EcoPeace Middle East, warning that "the deterioration of water, electricity and sewage infrastructure in the Gaza Strip poses a substantial danger to Israel's land and marine waters, beaches and desalination plants."
"The weakness of water networks and the continuous power cuts negatively affect the availability of water for domestic use, as most households depend on small pumps to pump water from the networks into their homes," Mosab explains. "The situation inside the refugee camps worsens due to the high population density, which affects pressure in household water networks and water availability. Furthermore, high rates of vulnerability negatively affect families' ability to secure adequate quantities of drinking water."
A study by the Rand Corporation, published by the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz in October 2018, also showed that diseases caused by water pollution are one of the leading causes of infant mortality in the Gaza Strip. According to the study, water pollution accounts for more than a quarter of all illnesses in Gaza, and over 12 per cent of infant deaths — up until four years ago — were linked to gastrointestinal disorders caused by water pollution. In 2016, Mohammad Al-Sayis, aged five, swallowed seawater contaminated with sewage, ingesting faecal bacteria that led to a fatal brain disease. Mohammad's death, reported in a special report by al-Jazeera on the water situation in Gaza, was the first to be recorded as attributable to sewage in the Strip.
"The story of Mohammed shocked those who don't live in Gaza: here there is a Mohammed every single day," Mosab says. Cooperation interventions, both humanitarian and development-focused, seek to guarantee a minimum level of access to water and also water quality. They are often technical solutions to political problems. "Israel prevents many spare parts and essential components for water infrastructure from entering Gaza by placing them on the so-called 'dual use' list: if the Israeli authorities believe that a piece of equipment can be modified or used for military purposes, they block it. Israel also has water catchment basins in border areas that capture rainwater flowing into Gaza from Hebron, and this has a negative impact on the amount of water entering the aquifer."
Every day Mosab wakes up and begins an unequal battle against an immense problem. But he never stops fighting it, just as he never stops expressing his outrage. "We need to ensure interventions both at community level and at systemic level: seawater desalination plants, improved rainwater drainage systems, improved water storage — all while never ceasing for a single moment to raise awareness among the population about water use rationing."
How much does water cost in Gaza, for those who can afford it? How much does an average family spend on water? "It depends on many factors, including the number of hours of electricity available per day, the geographical location within the Strip, and other factors. In Gaza, farmers spend far more on water given the electricity crises that negatively affect their income and expose them to severe losses across many seasons. It isn't easy to explain to everyone that each person must do their part. I go around homes, schools, fields, I talk to parents, students, farmers… but no matter how hard we work, if urgent action is not taken, the situation will become increasingly serious." In Gaza, when you ask for water, the answer you get is: "It's like drinking a glass of sea." Even the sea — the only way out of Gaza's besieged world — risks becoming an enemy, as salt intrudes into the aquifer.
Water Defenders is a project by Water Grabbing Observatory for the tenth anniversary of the recognition of the human right to water. A series of interviews from around the world will tell the stories of grassroots civil battles in defence of water. A struggle understood in all its dimensions — against the grabbing of resources and against large and small projects that impact communities and the natural heritage. A gallery of ordinary people, men and women, who around the world are defending a fundamental right. Starting on 22 March, World Water Day, every month Water Grabbing Observatory will tell the story on LifeGate of a person who has dedicated themselves to protecting the most precious resource we have. To reaffirm the value of the right to water.