Nearly 1 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were affected by a decline in water supplies for the second consecutive day, the UN said. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a press conference on Wednesday that people connected to the Israeli water network were struggling because of dwindling water resources.
Dujarric said water delivered by tankers from other sources was only partially making up for the existing shortfall.
Concerns over forced displacement in Gaza
Dujarric said teams from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had serious concerns about the safety and well-being of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. He said they were concerned about the course of developments in Gaza.
Asked about Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz’s statements regarding the future displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, Dujarric said they continued to draw clear attention every day to the ongoing suffering of the Palestinian people and the security concerns faced by many Israeli civilians.
The UN spokesperson said they would continue working toward a two-state solution regardless of conditions on the ground.
Reports of demolitions in Masafer Yatta
Dujarric said humanitarian officials were also concerned by reports that the Khirbet al-Tebban community in Masafer Yatta, in the Hebron area of the West Bank, had been completely destroyed by Israeli forces.
Khirbet al-Tebban was described as one of 13 shepherd communities located in an area designated by Israeli authorities as a firing zone for military training. Dujarric said approximately 12 settler outposts had been established in the same area over the past two years and that settler violence had increased pressure on residents to leave.
Tensions in the West Bank have continued alongside Israeli military operations and settler attacks since the war in Gaza began in October 2023. The expansion of illegal settler outposts, the construction of roads used exclusively by settlers and restrictions on Palestinians’ movement also continue in the area.
