'Worried' UN says Israel depriving 1M in Gaza with 'reduced water supplies' for 2nd day

The UN on Wednesday said Israel has left around one million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with "reduced water supplies" for a second straight day.

"Our OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) colleagues tell us that they remain deeply concerned over the safety and welfare of Palestinian civilians in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a news conference.

He said that "for the second day, about one million people in Gaza who depend on the Israeli water grid were affected by reduced water supplies," adding that "the distribution of water from other sources by truck only partly" offset the shortfall.

Responding to Anadolu's question on remarks by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on the future displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, Dujarric said the UN was worried about the trajectory and stressed that "we speak about it every day in very clear terms, in terms of the continuing suffering of the Palestinian people, the lack of security for many Israeli civilians, as well."

He said the UN "will still continue to push for a two-state solution, despite the fact that obviously the reality on the ground is what it is."

Dujarric also said humanitarian officials "are continuing to be very concerned by reports that the entire community of Khirbet at Tabban was destroyed today by Israeli forces," one of 13 herding communities in the Masafer Yatta area of Hebron that fall within land Israeli authorities have designated as "firing zones" for military training.

He noted that "a dozen settler outposts have been established within the same area over the past two years," with occupiers' violence compounding pressure on residents to leave.

The occupied West Bank has witnessed a continued escalation in Israeli military offensives and occupier attacks since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, alongside the expansion of illegal settlement outposts, construction of occupiers-only roads and tighter restrictions on Palestinian movement.