GAZA CITY, Palestine/ISTANBUL

The Union of Gaza Strip Municipalities warned Friday of the consequences of 700,000 tons of accumulated waste in random dumping sites, as municipalities are unable to provide even the minimum level of essential services due to severe shortages of fuel and equipment.

Alaa Al-Batta, the union’s deputy head, told Anadolu that municipalities are facing an “impossible equation” due to the massive destruction of infrastructure, fuel shortages, and the destruction of machinery and equipment during Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.

He said these combined factors have left municipalities unable to provide even basic services to residents and displaced people, despite a month having passed since the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, with no tangible improvement.

Waste accumulation

The Palestinian official warned of a looming health and environmental disaster amid massive waste buildup across Gaza.

He said around 700,000 tons of waste are piling up in northern and southern areas of the strip, as Israel prevents access to central dumping sites located in border zones it controls under the ceasefire east of the so-called “yellow line.”

He noted that the waste accumulation has also led to the spread of mosquitoes and rodents and contamination of groundwater.

Fuel shortage

Al-Batta described Gaza’s fuel shortage, particularly for municipalities, as “the most dangerous and urgent crisis” at the moment.

He said municipalities are resorting to borrowing fuel, and when they cannot, they must reduce daily operations because they cannot run service vehicles and facilities.

He called for urgent Arab and international action to supply municipalities with the fuel required to maintain essential services.

Water crisis

Regarding the water crisis, Al-Batta said it has reached unprecedented levels as Israel has destroyed more than 700 wells across Gaza during two years of genocide, representing 80–85% of all municipal wells.

He said the daily per capita water share had dropped from 90 liters before the genocide to just 10–15 liters today.

He added that groundwater and the environment are contaminated because sewage has leaked into the soil after the Israeli military deliberately targeted sewage networks during the two years of war.

“We are talking about near-total destruction of about 2 million linear meters of sewage networks, and municipalities do not have the equipment necessary to repair or maintain them,” he said.

Additional challenges

Al-Batta said municipal employees faced severe conditions during the genocide, leading to the killing of many of them, while others continued working without pay.

He said that over 200 municipality workers were killed while performing their professional and humanitarian duties.

He noted that about 5,000 municipal employees in Gaza have been working for 735 days without salaries, despite the war and constant targeting.

Regarding attacks on municipal buildings, Al-Batta said they were directly targeted during the two-year war. Israeli strikes also hit municipal equipment in Gaza City, Khan Younis, and Jabalia, destroying dozens of essential machines.

He said Israel destroyed 15 bulldozers previously donated by Arab states and Egypt during the previous ceasefire period that began in January 2025 and ended in March.

According to the latest data from Gaza’s Government Media Office, losses in the municipal and services sector over two years of genocide amount to about $6 billion.

Al-Batta stressed that Israel is not allowing the entry of new machinery, severely limiting municipalities’ ability to clear rubble, remove waste, reopen streets, and manage the mounting crises.

The Gaza Media Office estimates that the genocide has left around 70 million tons of rubble, beneath which lie thousands of bodies of Palestinians killed during the war.

The estimates indicate 9,500 Palestinians are missing, either buried under the rubble of destroyed homes or their fate remains unknown.

Israel has killed more than 69,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 170,700 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023.