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The sludgy, orange-brown water running out of taps in Flint, Michigan has rightly prompted outrage among many people in the U.S. This crisis exposed thousands of children to dangerous levels of lead and was entirely avoidable - if the right people had acted at the right time.
On the other side of the globe, another human-created catastrophe is brewing. In Gaza, home to 1.8 million people in an area about the size of Detroit, the only local source of groundwater will be completely contaminated by the end of this year.
What's behind the crisis?
This crisis is brought on by the nine-year IsraeliEgyptian blockade of Gaza (see map, pg. 5). Israel imposed the blockade after the Palestinian armed group Hamas seized power by force. Israel considers Gaza a hostile entity and severely restricts the passage of people and goods in and out of Gaza. This includes a limit on construction materials allowed into the territory, since Hamas could use them for military purposes. The blockade has led to an ongoing, and worsening, humanitarian crisis.
Israeli bombings over the past decade have destroyed much of Gaza's water, sewage, and electrical infrastructure. Fully repairing the infrastructure is virtually impossible due to restrictions on building materials. In November 2015, Dr. Mahmoud Daher, Head of the World Health Organization's Gaza suboffice, warned that "almost all of the water in Gaza is unfit for human consumption." With a 43 percent unemployment rate - the world's highest - many Palestinians in Gaza cannot afford to purchase water. Yet their options are to spend that money or expose themselves to serious health consequences.
Why should Israel act?
Israel's stated reason...