The contamination of water in Gaza, worsened by the Israeli military’s blockade, is deliberately weaponized, causing widespread illness and death, particularly among children.
When I was in Gaza the second time in December 2024, I worked largely in the pediatric emergency department. I was reminded of the innocence of childhood, overshadowed by the strong grip of illness and despair. I had the opportunity to care for children in dire need, but it was during a conversation with one particular mother that my heart shattered.
A mother brought her 2-year-old son, and as I approached them, I was struck by the sight of the little boy. He was the same age as my youngest son, yet he seemed so small for his age.
The whites of his eyes glowed neon orange, his skin a deep shade of Tang. He lay motionless, breathing heavily, with a distended abdomen. Each movement caused him pain; he was suffering from fulminant liver failure, the result of hepatitis A—a disease that is all too preventable and treatable.
As the mother shared a picture of her son from just a year ago, beaming with health and happiness, I felt a wave of sorrow wash over me. How quickly life can change. This child had contracted hepatitis A like so many others in Gaza, a manufactured consequence of poor sanitation and water contamination.
His mother told me that the child was approved for medical evacuation by the Palestinian Ministry of Health and a hospital was even willing to provide him with a liver transplant abroad, but that possibility was repeatedly denied by the Israeli government. I knew that without this liver transplant, it is certain that this child would die soon.
I can’t shake the image of the mother carrying her boy out of the emergency department, his small frame clinging to her, both wrapped in despair. I may have lost count of the faces I witnessed in my time there, but this child’s suffering haunts me in ways words cannot express.
The physician in me knows this child died shortly after leaving the hospital that day, but the mother in me does not want to accept the reality.
This example demonstrates the deliberate and repeated cruelty inflicted on the children of Gaza for the past 17 months, and it continues to happen.
The 42 days of ceasefire are now met with a blockade of all aid and electricity, which is needed for water purification. The issue of water contamination has long been an issue in Gaza, as reported by the water analysis report published by the United Nations in 2014.
However, the state of the water contamination has exponentially worsened after October 7, 2023.
The Israeli government has weaponized the water purification supplies needed to desalinate and decontaminate the brackish seawater.
During my second trip, I was able to get a closer look at the water filtration system—or lack of—and how it was supplied to the people in the tent encampments.
Everywhere you saw a small child, you would also see them carrying a plastic container to fill up water in case they got lucky enough to find some. The place they would fill water up would be filthy hoses exiting up from the ground directly.
In tasting the water myself, it was laden with salt and contaminants. I witnessed children drinking this water directly because they had no other choice. It was obvious to me why we were seeing such high rates of kidney failure and chronic diarrhea in children in the emergency department.
The Israeli government continues to proudly and collectively punish the citizens of Gaza by using food, water, fuel, and shelter as bargaining chips.
This, by itself, is the definition of war crimes, and we should all be outraged that it happens with complete impunity and with the enablement using our tax dollars.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Dr. Mimi Syed is an American board-certified emergency medicine physician, Dr. Syed served in Gaza from August 8 to September 5, 2024, and December 3 to December 31, 2024, at both Al-Aqsa Hospital and Nasser Hospital. She contributed this article to the Palestine Chronicle.
Dr. Mimi,
Thank you for your tireless work and support for the people of Palestine. It’s so heartbreaking to learn about the war crimes being committed so brazenly by Israel and US tax dollars.