Gaza sewage outlet
Gaza sewage outletWissam Nassar/Flash90

Israel’s desalinization plant in Ashkelon, an important asset in Israel’s water supply, has been taken off line due to raw sewage from Gaza flooding into the area.

The culprit is a new water treatment facility, constructed in the northern Gaza Strip to the tune of $100 million, a sum provided by foreign aid.

While the facility was completed last year, the Hamas regime in Gaza has refused to allocate electricity for the plant, instead using it to light up a series of new ritzy hotels.

Israel provides a portion of Gaza’s electricity, yet the Palestinian Authority has refused to pick up the tab for electricity has provided in not only Gaza but Judea and Samaria as well. The PA owes Israel roughly 1.5 billion shekels in unpaid electric bills.

An Israeli government official responsible for the transfer of electricity to Gaza explained that activating the water treatment plant simply is not a high priority for the Hamas regime, according to Yediot Achronot.

"Israel supplies electricity to Gaza. The allocation of this electricity is decided by the Palestinians. Gaza has unused power capacity which can be allocated to power the plant.”

This is the third time in a month that the Ashkelon facility has been shut down due to sewage flooding in from the nearby Gaza Strip.

The overflow of raw sewage has also affected Israeli beaches, flooding them with dangerously high levels of E. Coli.

With Israel suffering from an ongoing drought, the shutdown of the Ashkelon desalination plant represents a serious problem for Israel’s water supply.

Experts predict the flooding of raw sewage from Gaza into Israel is likely to worsen, with no clear solution in sight.