Gazans flock to beaches despite pollution disaster
Many Gazans insist on enjoying what they can of the enclave's beaches despite water treatment plants left unable to operate dumping raw sewage into the sea.
Thousands of families flocked to the shores of the Gaza Strip days after the fighting with Israel ended, completely disregarding that the beach is polluted with raw sewage and without adhering to preventive measures against COVID-19. Many Gazans seem to believe they have already tasted death and nothing will prevent them from enjoying life.
After Israel destroyed so much of Gaza's infrastructure, the Palestine Electric Company was left without fuel to operate and has been forced to dump untreated sewage into the sea
The Israeli siege imposed on Gaza since 2007 is the main cause of the pollution crisis. As a result of 20-hour-a-day power cuts since 2013, the treatment plants are only able to operate for a few hours at a time.
These facilities are unable to get replacement parts as Israel blocks them citing possible military use, so plants have to shut down as a result of any malfunction.
