Ten thousand people risk drowning in septic waste as Gaza's sewage system is threatened by Israeli bombardment and the inability to operate pumps, the World Bank said on Wednesday. Pumps transferring sewage from large cesspools to filtration basins in northern Gaza are not operating because of a lack of electricity and fuel, the bank said.
These pumps are critical to relieve pressure on the Beit Lahya sewage lake structure. The lake's walls are also threatened "by the potential impact of nearby explosions and sonic booms and possibly heavy rain."
"Failure of the lake structure would put the about 10,000 residents of the surrounding area in danger of drowning and spark a larger environmental and public health disaster," the World Bank said. In March 2007, five Palestinians were killed by a flood of raw sewage and 1,500 people were displaced when the earthen walls of the cesspool collapsed.
The World Bank said there were also severe shortages of drinking water, adding that the water utility had only enough fuel to enable one day of pumping, but is unable to distribute it as the Israeli offensive continues. It urged Israel to facilitate the entry and safe transport of fuel, spare parts and maintenance staff to the site and also refrain from targeting it.
Nine Israeli human rights groups on Wednesday petitioned Israel's Supreme Court demanding urgent steps to stop what they said was a collapse of Gaza's sewage and water system, caused by the military operation and by the blockade. "Additional delay risks unnecessary and preventable destruction and even death for innocent civilians," the petition argues.
Israel on Wednesday gave a brief respite to residents near Gaza City on the first day of what it said would be a daily three hour suspension of its bombing to let in humanitarian aid.
An Israeli medical and human rights group urged Israel to use the "humanitarian corridor" to allow for all wounded civilians to be evacuated to medical centres outside Gaza. "Israel's ground invasion has led to increasingly worsening damage to the civilian population and the hospitals in Gaza," Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said in a statement.
"Many ongoing deaths are preventable with adequate medical facilities and care," it said. A number of patients have been evacuated through the border with Egypt since Israel launched its offensive against the Islamist Hamas rulers of Gaza on December 27.