بلدية غزة: جهود متواصلة لجمع النفايات للتخفيف من الكارثة الصحية

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Ongoing Waste Accumulation Worsens the Crisis and Accelerates the Spread of Disease
Gaza Municipality: Continued Efforts to Collect Waste and Mitigate the Health Disaster

The Gaza Municipality continues its efforts to collect and transport solid waste from the city’s streets, in cooperation with supporting organizations, in an attempt to mitigate the escalating health and environmental disaster caused by the accumulation of massive amounts of waste in streets and temporary dumpsites throughout the city. This worsening situation stems from the ongoing war of extermination and the municipality’s lack of sufficient resources to manage the growing waste crisis.

Several initial waste collection projects are being implemented in coordination with local and international institutions, including one led by the Arab International Committee for the Reconstruction of Palestine, another in partnership with the Agricultural Relief organization, and a third in collaboration with the Friends of the Environment Society.

In addition, the municipality is working with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on a project that involves deploying workers and carts for waste collection. Another project is being carried out in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to collect waste in the western and northern areas of the city.

Since the beginning of the war of extermination, Israeli occupation forces have prevented municipal crews from accessing the main landfill site east of the city. As a result, enormous amounts of waste have accumulated in central Gaza, particularly at the temporary Fras and Yarmouk landfill sites, further worsening the already dire health and humanitarian conditions.

The destruction of most of the municipality’s vehicles and equipment by Israeli forces, coupled with the severe shortage of fuel, has led to a near-total paralysis of waste collection operations and a significant reduction in essential services provided to the public.

Despite the escalating health, environmental, and humanitarian crisis, the Gaza Municipality continues to provide limited waste collection services under extremely difficult conditions. Entire neighborhoods have turned into polluted zones due to the buildup of waste, the spread of rats and insects, and conditions conducive to outbreaks of disease and epidemics especially in overcrowded areas where thousands of displaced families are sheltering. With municipal crews unable to reach many areas due to ongoing security threats and resource shortages, efforts persist relying on deteriorating equipment and minimal means to prevent a total collapse of essential services and maintain the most basic level of public health and sanitation.

The Gaza Municipality urgently appeals to all international bodies and humanitarian organizations to intervene immediately and provide emergency support including equipment, vehicles, fuel, and logistical resources to help sustain essential services. The municipality also calls on the international community to assume its moral and humanitarian responsibility and exert serious pressure to stop the ongoing war of extermination, which continues to paralyze civilian life, block access to basic necessities, and place Gaza’s residents at imminent and unacceptable health and humanitarian risk.