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00:00 Palestinians seeking refuge in southern Gaza say that every day has become a struggle to
00:08 find water and working bathrooms.
00:11 All the while, they live in fear of Israeli airstrikes and the growing threat of illnesses.
00:17 Israel's bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza have pushed almost all Palestinians
00:22 toward the southern city of Rafah, along the Egyptian border.
00:27 In the makeshift displacement camp of Mu'asi, their attention turns to fetching water, a
00:33 task that takes up most of the daylight hours.
00:36 Children and men gather at one of the agriculture water pipes that is exclusively used for washing
00:43 and not suitable for drinking.
00:45 Next, they head to one of the drinking water tankers in the area, where they wait in line
00:50 to fill their containers.
00:52 Meanwhile, families suffer from the growing spread of diseases, especially among children.
00:58 "We don't have a big barrel of water in the tent, we have two small tanks that can't
01:05 hold 200-300 liters of water.
01:07 We don't have any water for washing, for the bathroom, or anything else.
01:11 We don't have water to drink.
01:13 This is a personal effort of the people who open the water for us, they cut it from the
01:18 ground and send it to us."
01:20 "We walk sometimes when we go to fill a can or two a day.
01:24 The can is enough for washing.
01:28 Our children, in the 10-15 days, we don't bathe them.
01:32 We don't have bathrooms, we don't have anything.
01:36 We have no water at all.
01:39 If we buy water, if it's available, we buy water to drink.
01:43 And the water we fill is not suitable for drinking.
01:46 We don't drink from it, we don't knead from it, we don't cook from it, nothing.
01:50 We only bathe the children."
01:54 According to UNICEF, the global standards for humanitarian emergency say there should
01:59 be a maximum of 20 people using one toilet.
02:02 For showers, it's four times that number, one shower for every 3,600 people.
02:09 And while people receive 15 liters of water each daily, and an absolute minimum of 3 liters
02:14 just to survive, households that were surveyed had access to less than one liter of safe
02:20 water per person per day.
02:23 The rapid spread of disease is mainly due to overcrowding and poor hygiene, caused by
02:28 a lack of toilets and water for washing.
02:31 "The ambulance came and took my children.
02:34 They all had a sprain and a concussion.
02:38 The doctor came and saw them and said they needed an ambulance to the hospital.
02:44 We went out and they gave them a sedative and medication.
02:48 Thank God, they're better now and we went home.
02:51 This is because of the water, of course.
02:54 The water is contaminated.
02:56 We can take it, but the children can't.
02:59 And there's no water.
03:01 Sometimes we don't even find water.
03:03 We have to drink salt water, which is beer water.
03:06 But of course, it's not clean at all."
03:09 The World Health Organization has reported tens of thousands of cases of upper respiratory
03:14 infections, diarrhea, lice, scabies, chickenpox, skin rashes and meningitis in UN shelters.
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03:30 UN Media Group
03:34 www.un.org/webcast