Energy Minister Israel Katz said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden had come to an agreement on Sunday where Israel would return to supplying water to southern Gaza, Reuters reported that day.
The decision to once again, partially, resume the supply of water to the Palestinian enclave was in line with Israeli policy on Gaza, the energy minister noted.
Israel had previously cut off its water supply following Hamas's kidnapping of Israeli citizens. According to the latest figures from Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, 126 Israelis have been kidnapped by Hamas.
While Israel's decision to cut water has been slammed by other nations and NGOs, as the Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday, Israel supplies roughly 10% of Gaza's water supply, according to Eyal Pinko of the Department of Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University.
Interesting video released by al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas' military wing) showing how it digs out water pipes meant for Gazans and uses them to make rockets that are fired indiscriminately at Israel. Absolutely evil. #Gaza pic.twitter.com/eV1DwOarVc
— FJ (@Natsecjeff) May 25, 2021
Water pipes to rockets
Additionally, Hamas has been found sabotaging their own water supply. As noted in an article from The Telegraph this past week, footage published in 2021 revealed Hamas terrorists digging up water pipes in Gaza to fashion into rockets which are then fired into Israel.
Further, as Honest Reporting noted in a report from April of this year, after Hamas took power from the Palestinian Authority in 2007, severe neglect of the water system in Gaza resulted in over 40% of the enclave's water being lost to leaks, stolen, or otherwise tainted.
Israel has not resumed water supplies for Gaza, spokesman of Hamas interior ministry Eyad Al-Bozom said on Monday.
"The residents drink unhealthy water, posing a serious health crisis threatens the lives of the citizens," he added.