Germany announces €9 million drinking water initiative for Gaza

A state-owned German bank announced Thursday a €9 million initiative aimed at improving drinking water in the besieged Gaza Strip, on behalf of Germany and the European Union.

The KfW Development Bank said it had signed mandate contracts for the project, which it hopes will benefit more than one million residents of the northern Gaza Strip. 

The funds “will be used to build a reservoir with a capacity of 26,400 cubic metres in which the water will be mixed and treated, as well as pipelines between the connection point to the Israeli network and the reservoir”, the bank said in a press release.

KfW supports water supply and sanitation in the Middle East on behalf of @BMZ_Bund and @EU_Partnerships.

New EU financing commitments comprise EUR 9 million for the northern Gaza Strip and EUR 25 million for Jordan.https://t.co/0jg5m5Ykts pic.twitter.com/ctW29wl4Z7

— KfW Development Bank (@KfW_FZ_int) December 16, 2021

Experts and human rights groups have long said that water in the besieged enclave is unfit for consumption.

Water in Gaza is "undrinkable" and "slowly poisoning" people, the Global Institute for Water, Environment and Health and the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor told the UN Human Rights Council in October.

The bank's announcement follows a separate agreement signed by Germany with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) to provide an additional €4 million for the reconstruction of homes destroyed during Israel’s 11-day bombing assault on Gaza in May.

The bombing campaign killed more than 250 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes, as well as other infrastructure.

UNOPS said last week that the home-construction pledge is “an extension to the agreement signed in July 2018, under which some 300 homes have already been re-constructed and an additional 1,375 substandard shelters are being rehabilitated. 

“With the additional funding of EUR 4 million, the total project budget will increase to EUR 25.15 million, which will enable UNOPS to provide financial assistance to an additional 85 families, whose homes were destroyed in May 2021” it said.

UNOPS emphasised urgent humanitarian needs in the territory, but noted “only a political solution will allow to sustainably improve the living conditions for people in Gaza”.

Sweden announced last week that it had partnered up with two UN agencies to contribute $5.7 million for Gaza's reconstruction, to restore access to essential services and livelihoods for Gazans and to ensure safe housing and living conditions.