Water & Sanitation in the Access Restricted Areas of the Gaza Strip

Fact Sheet 13December 2012

The Access Restricted Areas(ARA)extendalongtheentirenorthernandeasternperimeter oftheGazaStrip,adjacenttotheGreenLinewithIsrael.Sincelate2008,Palestinianaccessto theseareasisrestrictedunderanunilateraldecreebytheGovernmentofIsrael.Therestricted areasarebetween300and1.500meterswideandincluderesidentialareasandprimeagriculturallandandwaterresources.PalestiniansenteringtheARAoftencomeunderindiscriminatefirefromtheIsraeliarmy,leadingtoinjuriesandfatalities.Followingtheceasefire agreementbetweenIsraelandHamason22/11/2012,IsraeleasedrestrictionsintheARA, however,thetermsofthiseasingremainunclearandundernegotiations.

Key Facts: 113,000 people are affected by the Israeli restrictions in the ARA.i Farming is the main source of income for the majority of familiesintheARA. Approximately35%ofGazascultivablelandislocatedwithin theARA. Morethan50%ofthelandintheARAisnotcultivateddueto accessrestrictionsandunavailabilityofreliablewatersupply.ii Average loss to farmers income in the ARA is estimated at 63.7%comparedto5yearsago. 306waterwellsintheARAhavebeendemolishedbytheIsraeli militarysince2005iiiatanestimatedcostof9milliondollars.iv 6 agricultural water reservoirs have been demolished in the ARAsincethe2008/9IsraelioffensiveCastLead,allofwhich remainunrepaired.v 2750 dunams of water irrigation networks and 7600 meters ofwaterpipeshavebeendestroyedbytheIsraelimilitarysince 2007.vi

The state of water supply: Households in the ARA suffer from severely limited access to water services. 66.7% of households in the ARA receive water frommunicipalsuppliesthroughtheirtaps.Aproportionofthese onlyreceivewaterforalimitedperiodeveryweekasfollows:1 27.9%receivewateronlyonedayaweekforafewhours 30.9%receivewater2daysaweekforafewhours 22.1%receivewater3daysaweekforafewhours To compensate for these shortfalls, families have to rely on alternativesourcestomeettheirdailyneeds.26.5%ofhouseholds in the ARA purchase trucked water from private vendors and

33.3%usewaterfromartisanalgroundwater wells,whichisofdoubtfulquality. Alternativewatersourcesaregenerallymore expensivethanthemunicipalityswatersupply. A recent survey shows that approximately 37%ofthoserelyingontruckedwaterspend morethanaquarteroftheirincomeonwater, placing considerable strain on the family finances.

i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi.

OCHA, Between the Fence and a Hard Place: the humanitarian impact of the Israeli-imposed restrictions on access to land and sea, (August 2010) Information supplied by the PA Ministry of Agriculture on 7 / 8 / 2012 OHCHR, Update on the Access Restricted Areas in the Gaza Strip JanuaryDecember 2011, (January 2012) OCHA, Between the Fence and a Hard Place: the humanitarian impact of the Israeli-imposed restrictions on access to land and sea, (August 2010) Information supplied by the PA Ministry of Agriculture on 7 / 8 / 2012 ibid

1

Data contained in this factsheet based on survey and focus groups conducted by EWASH in ARA during July 2012 covering localities of Beit Lahia (Um An-Nassir and As-Siyafa), Beit Hanoun, Al Shajaiya, Juhr Ad-Deek, Wadi As-Salqa and Albureij, Al-Qarara, Abassan Alkabeera, Khuzaa, Al-Fukhri, Sofa, and Al-Shawka.

Farming and livelihoods: PrivatewellsarethemainwatersourceforirrigationintheARA. Yet the wells dont adequately meet crop needs due to low capacityandfuelshortagesthatlimitpumping. Waterfromprivatewellscomesatconsiderablefinancialstrain to low income farmers with costs reaching 200 NIS ($50) per dunumeverymonthdependingonthetypeofcrop. Asaresult: 53.1% of farmers cannot irrigate all their crops, forcing themtoreducethefrequencyofirrigation. 67.9%offarmersintheARAareobligedtogrowrain-fed cropssuchaswheatandbarleyinsteadofmoreprofitable fruitsandvegetablesduetolimitationsonaccesstowater andland.2 Inadequate Sanitation: 86.3% of households in the ARA are not connected to the sewagenetworkandhavetodependonimprovisedcesspits. Municipal sewage trucks often cannot reach households to empty cesspits due to risk of coming under fire of the Israeli army, leaving sewage to flood houses and exposing the local population, particularly children, to health risks.3 64.7% of households surveyed in the ARA reported health problems in their children at least once in the past six months, including diarrheaandskininfections,likelyattributabletopoorsanitation. Restrictions on workers: Maintenanceandupgradeofwaterandsanitationinfrastructure havebeensignificantlyhamperedintheARA. Project staff need daily approval from the Israeli army to visit projectsitesandtheyarepermittedtoworkonlyduringdaylight.4 Forexample,completionofthefirstphaseoftheNorthGaza EmergencySewageTreatmentPlant(NGEST)-upto200meters fromtheGreenLine-hasbeendelayedbytwoyearsdueto theserestrictions.5Completionofthesecondphase,forecasted forJune2013,isexpectedtofacedelays.6NGESTwillservea thirdoftheGazaStripspopulation. Actions of the Government of Israel in the ARA that disrupt civilian life, including interfering with the normal supply of waterandsanitationservices,areillegalandruncountertoits obligationsunderInternationalHumanitarianLaw.EWASHcalls ontheGovernmentofIsraeltoimmediatelylifttheserestrictions.2 3 4 5 6

Sedqi Al-Qara, 50, owns 40 dunums of agricultural land located 700 meters from theperimeterfencewithIsraelinalQararah areainthesouthoftheGazaStrip.Sedqi used to grow almonds, orange, lemon, palm, and olives before the Israeli military leveled his land, destroying his orchards. Iwasforcedtoswitchtovegetableseven though they need plenty of water which is not available in this area, but I had no alternativesSedqisaid. In 2008, the Israeli military destroyed a water well Sedqi owned with other farmers, rendering farming in that area very difficult. Since then Sedqi has been receiving insufficient amounts of water from a nearby water well, forcing him to cultivate only six and a half dunums and leave the rest barren. Well water is expensiveandinsufficient,Iborrowmoney from friends and relatives to buy water. Im overburdened by debts that I cant meet,Sedqisaid.Mostofthevegetables IplantedthisyearhavedriedupbecauseI havebeenwateringthemeveryotherday whilethesecropsneeddailyirrigation

OCHA, Between the Fence and a Hard Place: the humanitarian impact of the Israeli-imposed restrictions on access to land and sea, (August 2010) OHCHR, Update on the Access Restricted Areas in the Gaza Strip January-December 2011, (January 2012) OCHA, Between the Fence and a Hard Place: the humanitarian impact of the Israeli-imposed restrictions on access to land and sea, (August 2010) Ibid Information supplied by Palestinian Water Authority on 13/8/2012

This briefing was produced by the EWASH Advocacy Task Force: a sub-committee of the EWASH group (www.ewash.org), in collaboration with the Maan Development Center.Founded in 2002, the Emergency Water and Sanitation/Hygiene group (EWASH) is a coalition of humanitarian agencies working together to coordinate interventions, respond to needs, share information and do advocacy on the water and sanitation sector intheOPT.MembersincludelocalandinternationalNGOsandUN agencies.Visitwww.ewash.orgformoreinformation. Thisfactsheetwasendorsedbythefollowingorganizations: Action Contre la Faim (ACF) Assembly of Cooperation for Peace (ACPP) Applied ResearchInstitute-Jerusalem(ARIJ)BirzeitUCAREDanChurchAidNearEastCouncil of Churches - Jerusalem (ICC) Ma'an Development Center Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA) Oxfam Polish Humanitarian Action (PHA) Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC) Palestinian Wastewater Engineers Group PENGON PalestinianHydrologyGroupPremierUrgence-AideMdicaleInternationale(PU-AMI)