A child transfers water with his teeth… a video documenting the suffering in Gaza | policy

Gaza – A circulating clip showed a Palestinian child in the Gaza Strip carrying a gallon of water using his teeth, while carrying more water in both hands.

The clip reflects the extent of the double suffering experienced by the children of the Gaza Strip on the one hand, and the severe water shortage on the other hand, as water is distributed through special tanks and in varying cycles weekly between the tents of the displaced.

The child appears tired and exhausted, walking with heavy steps, with the capacity of one gallon ranging between 10 liters and 12 liters, which indicates that many of these children turn to hard work transporting water to their families.

What the child does – and many like him in Gaza – reflects the great suffering in accessing water sources despite their already scarcity, and the absence of transportation tools and mechanisms due to the occupation’s destruction of them.

According to the Director General of the Gaza Water Authority, Dr. Munther Salem, 85% of Gaza’s population are completely deprived of access to clean water and are forced to rely on irregular distribution trucks.

He stated in a previous interview with Al Jazeera Net that the average consumption per person barely reaches 7 liters per day, after it ranged between 80 liters and 100 liters per day before the last war.

He stated that about 85% to 90% of the water and sewage network infrastructure was completely destroyed, including main pipelines and private desalination plants, 85% of which stopped working.