On the beach of Sheikh Ajlin, in southern Gaza City, no one is paying attention to the military maneuvers that a group of Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters are carrying out nearby. Children run in the waves of the Mediterranean and beg their parents to offer them a camel ride or cotton candy, indifferent to the sound of rockets falling into the sea.
Thanks to a vast wastewater treatment operation, the coast of the Gaza Strip can finally accommodate bathers. It hadn’t happened for many years. This summer, thousands of families are rediscovering the main attraction of the blockaded territory.
Nabila Haniya rejoices:
“We haven’t been here for seven years because the sea was too polluted. It’s much cleaner now, the water has changed color, it’s bluer.”
She sat at a picnic table with other women while their children played a little further. “We have to endure war and many other problems. These kids deserve a little fun.”
purified water
Fifteen years after the beginning of the blockade imposed by Israel with the support of Egypt, water safety has become a key issue for the 2.2 million people who live on this 41 kilometer long strip of land. . Gaza has only one aquifer, and almost 97% of its water is no longer drinkable: sewage treatment plants have not been able to keep up for several years now, due to lack of maintenance and restrictions imposed by Israel on imports.
For more than ten years, untreated water has therefore flowed directly into the sea, causing a veritable environmental disaster and polluting in the process one of the only sources of water pollution.
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The Guardian (London)Independence and quality characterize this title born in 1821, which counts among its ranks some of the most respected columnists in the country. The Guardian is the reference newspaper for the intelligentsia, teachers and trade unionists. Oriented to the center left, he is very critical of the Conservative government.
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