A senior Gaza health official has warned of an unprecedented health and environmental disaster as worsening water quality and rising pollution take a heavy toll on public health.
Dr Muneer Al-Bursh, Director-General of Gaza’s Health Ministry, said on Tuesday that the average concentration of total dissolved salts in groundwater had reached 3,588 milligrams per litre, more than three-and-a-half times the globally recommended limit for drinking water.
Speaking to reporters, Al-Bursh said the level had risen to as much as 13,000 milligrams per litre in some wells, highlighting the severe deterioration of the coastal aquifer and seawater intrusion.
READ: UK government rejects calls to recognise Gaza genocide despite UN findings
He added that tests found bacterial contamination in around 19 per cent of municipal wells, while 40 per cent of wells either operate without effective chlorination systems or require urgent maintenance, increasing the risk of waterborne diseases.
