Gaza – Ma’an – The Deir al-Balah Municipality said in a statement issued on Sunday that “reducing the humanitarian area in the south from 30 km to 20 km has led to terrible congestion and a frightening crowding of residents in a narrow strip in the intense heat, as this congestion results in many diseases and epidemics.”

The municipality indicated in its statement that the number of displaced people in the city of Deir al-Balah has risen to unprecedented numbers, reaching nearly one million displaced people distributed across nearly 200 shelters, which has made Deir al-Balah the area with the most capacity to accommodate displaced people throughout history and at the global level compared to its area.

The municipality added: ‘We were unable to provide the required service to the residents due to a number of water wells and tanks being out of service due to their location in the area that the occupation requested to be evacuated. These facilities used to supply the residents with 60% of their water, which wi
ll result in severe difficulty in obtaining water, especially in this extremely hot weather.’

The municipality pointed out that there were no places for the displaced to take refuge, due to the narrow area designated by the Israeli occupation army as a humanitarian zone, which made them wander the streets and roads.

The municipality warned of the accumulation of waste in the streets, roads and shelters due to the inability of the municipality’s vehicles to reach the waste dump that was allocated during the war, due to its location in the area that the occupation requested to be evacuated, which will result in the spread of epidemics and diseases, especially with the discovery of the first case of polio.

The municipality called on international institutions and civil society organizations to pressure the occupation authorities to enable municipal crews to freely access its facilities in order to provide the required service to the residents and the displaced.

Source: Maan News Agency