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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Ruth Michaelson

‘We have no choice’: illness in Gaza as clean water becomes a luxury

Palestinian children wait in a line with containers to collect water
Palestinian children wait in a line with containers to collect water, amid drinking water shortages. Photograph: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters

In a house in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, some of the women in a building housing 60 people decided to cut their hair short to save on water when washing.

Others in southern Gaza say they’re stretching out the time between showers, or flushes of the toilet. Everyone knows exactly how much water they have, and how much they can store. Above all they know that water, especially water that is both safe to drink and doesn’t taste bad, has become precious.

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