The Gaza devastationinvoked every day by Israeli leaders and reflected in the thousands of dead between your civil population, helpless and trapped in the enclave, it’s not just coming from the air. The decision of Israel to completely seal its borders to the entry of water, food or fuel For more than three weeks it has been contributing decisively to the humanitarian disaster. UN agencies never tire of warning about the Dantesque conditions that Palestinian civilians face, a diagnosis shared by the United Statesdespite its insistence on blocking the ceasefire attempts in it UN Security Council. This is reflected in an internal document prepared by the Department of Stateto which EL PERIÓDICO has had access, which claims “immediate measures” for “avoid the death of tens of thousands of people in Gaza.”
The document of the American diplomacy does a assessment of the humanitarian situation and proposes a series of “measures for immediate implementation” for “alleviate human suffering” in the enclave. He draws as much information from his “contacts” in the Strip as from the UN humanitarian agencies operating on the ground. It has the classification of SBU, “sensitive but not classified”, a designation that nevertheless requires strict controls on its dissemination. Distributed internally in the middle of this week, its analysis is even more stark and bleak than what humanitarian agencies have been saying.
“There is no water left in Gaza,” the document says. “People inside (UN) shelters have access to as little as half a liter of drinking water a day”, when the WHO standard for emergency contexts is 15 liters per person up to date. In Israel the average is 200 liters per capita. “Millions have turned to drink tap water with high salt concentration from the brackish aquifer of Gaza, with a salt content between 3,000 and 5,000 milligrams per liter.” A dynamic that, according to the document, seriously endangers the population. “The nitrates from water underground are transmitting diseases that probably will poison many”.
Thousands of babies and pregnant women in danger of death
The main concern expressed in the document focuses on the most vulnerable population. “An estimated number of 31,000 babies less than six months and 52,000 women pregnant are at risk of serious complications or death due to the ingestion of Brackish water”, assures the State Department. Even before this latest round of hostilities began, more than 95% of the water in Gaza’s only aquifer It was not suitable for human consumption, according to the World Bank. The majority bought bottled water to drink or processed in desalination plants and distributed in trucks. But today already there is no drinking water left in stores and desalination plants have stopped working due to the lack of fuel. This has meant that millions of people have no choice but to drink the brackish water from taps or of the agricultural wellsseverely contaminated with pesticides this last.
Continued intake of water with high salt content does not quench thirst. On the contrary, it causes dehydrationin addition to Increased blood pressure, calcium loss, nausea either delirium, according to several studies. In vulnerable populations, the risks increase. “The few studies that exist on the subject in pregnant women indicate that it can cause increases in blood pressure during pregnancy and affect the renal development of the fetus”, says Raquel Vives, head of Sexual and Reproductive Health at Doctors Without Borders. “Increased blood pressure is associated with pre-eclampsia, which can lead to eclampsiawhich is very serious and one of the main direct causes of maternal mortality. Also premature births and dehydration”.
“With babies under one year old, kidney function is not developed, therefore they are not prepared to handle these amounts of salt,” adds Dr. Vives. Added to these risks from brackish water are the high rates of water contaminationwhich could cause “diarrhea, angerdysentery, typhoid fever or some hepatitis.”
The US does not rule out famine
The American assessment of the situation in Gaza also says that there remains some “canned food” in stores and “agricultural products” that manage to reach the cupboards. “But the contacts warn that the food situation It can get worse at any time. If there is a famine“It will probably start in rural areas,” the document states. With respect to fuel, maintains that “it is completely exhausted.” Only the UN and some private gas stations would have anything in their reserves, as well as “(probably) Hamas.” That fuel is essential to provide water, operate hospitals or keep alive communications and transportation networks for humanitarian agencies, according to the State Department.
The document concludes with a list of recommendations. “The US should press for a series of simple measures “immediate implementation to alleviate human suffering and prevent the death of tens of thousands of people,” he argues. One of them goes through “put pressure on Israel” to reconnect the water supply through the Bani Saeed connection pointin the center of the Strip, increase the amount that has arrived since October 24 from the south and allow the entry of fuel into Gaza so that the two connection points can function.
Recommendations to alleviate “human suffering”
A second measure calls to activate the line Electric connection that connected Egypt with Gaza until 2018 to revive water pumping and desalination. “It should be activated immediately for as little as $5 million,” the document states. American diplomacy also advocates including fuel in the humanitarian convoys, a measure that Israel has so far refused. And he also says that both the population and the humanitarian workers and his displaced local staff “they need telephone networks “functional”, which is why he calls for putting pressure on Tel Aviv to “guarantee the security of the network PalTel” providing fuel to the generators necessary to keep it operational.
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Although this newspaper has not been able to confirm if the State Department recommendations have been adopted by the White Housethe truth is that the US public stance has changed in recent days. After rejecting for weeks the “humanitarian pauses”, The Biden Administration has started to publicly demand them. “We are absolutely convinced that a pause can be implemented to allow the release of hostages, it is something that we fully support”, the spokesman for the National Security Council said on Friday, John Kirby. The White House “will also support humanitarian pauses so that things come in and people can leave.” from Gaza.