UNICEF warns that Gaza's sewage basin could overflow after Israel rejects the repair plan.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that Israel's rejection of a $3 million project to repair the stormwater basin of Sheikh Radwan in Gaza City could expose residents to flooding and disease. The basin, which is polluted with sewage and at risk of flooding due to heavy rains, requires equipment that Israel has blocked from entering the area.
UNICEF executive James Elder said that the agency spent a year coordinating with the Israeli authorities and US President Donald Trump's "Peace Council" on the reconstruction plan, but the Coordinator of Government Operations in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli Ministry of War body that oversees civil affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, rejected it in recent days. He warned that sewage could flood nearby streets and tent camps, further endangering the displaced Palestinians.