Israel to supply electricity to Gaza desalination plant to boost water production in designated humanitarian zone

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Israel began providing electricity to a desalination plant in Gaza – a project that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called “a basic humanitarian need” – on Tuesday.

The project will make it possible for the desalination plant to produce more water for civilians in the designated humanitarian zone in the al-Mawasi area on the coast, in Khan Younis, and central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah.

According to an IDF estimate on Tuesday, 1.9 million out of 2.3 million Gazans are currently located in the humanitarian zone, with a few hundred thousand remaining in northern Gaza and approximately 20,000 in the Rafah area. Up until the IDF began military operations in Rafah in May, an estimated 1.4 million Gazans had sought refuge there. They were instructed by the IDF to move to the humanitarian zone.

After the new facility is connected to Israel’s electricity, the desalination plant will be able to pump out 20,000 cubic meters of water daily to the humanitarian zone, compared to approximately 1,500 cubic meters today. The desalination plant currently relies on solar energy and generators to provide water.

The United Nations funded the establishment of the desalination plant in 2017.

According to Israeli security officials, boosting the power of the desalination plant to produce more water is necessary to avoid a major humanitarian crisis that would hurt Israel’s legitimacy in pursuing its military operations against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists in Gaza.

The Times of Israel quoted Israeli officials as saying that Israel must prevent a humanitarian crisis by increasing the power of the plant, otherwise, international pressure or an order by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) could force Israel to end the war before Hamas is defeated.

One unnamed defense source said the upgrade of the desalination plant would be a “game changer” in Gaza. According to the source, the improvement of the desalination plant is “part of wider plans by Israel to prioritize humanitarian issues in Gaza and a policy to differentiate between Palestinian civilians and Hamas.”

Some Israeli government ministers, however, criticized the initiative for being premature and inappropriate.

“We’ve lost it completely. We are rebuilding Gaza ourselves – before it has been demilitarized…Mr. Prime Minister, stop this folly,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on 𝕏.

The initiative to provide electricity to the desalination facility was approved by several officials from the Israeli government, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the energy minister.

The plan is for the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA), which is based in Ramallah in the West Bank, to run the desalination plant together with international humanitarian organizations.

The PWA is reportedly not affiliated with Hamas. Nevertheless, Israeli officials reportedly made it clear that the IDF would disconnect the desalination plant's electricity supply if Hamas was to begin tapping the electricity for its terrorist activities.