An internal report by the U.S. State Department finds that tens of thousands of pregnant people and babies just months old are being forced to drink dirty water in Gaza, putting their health at risk as Israeli leaders block water and electricity from entering the area.

According to Haaretz, which viewed the report, State Department officials found that 52,000 pregnant people and over 30,000 babies under the age of six months old are drinking water that is either contaminated or brackish, meaning that it contains salt. The report relies on information from UN-affiliated organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO).

Drinking contaminated or brackish water is dangerous in any context, but especially for pregnant people and their fetuses and young babies, who are at heightened risk of infection, diseases and long-term health issues. These risks could be life-threatening.

It is also especially dangerous as the dirty water is likely the only source of water for many Gazans right now, with Israel having halted water, electricity, fuel and humanitarian aid to the area weeks ago with no sign of stopping its blockade. 

The report recommends that the Biden administration urge Israel to restore water access to its original capacity plus two pipes, on top of the pipe that has already been running at the request of Biden officials, and allow enough fuel into the area for water to run through the region. The recommendations, Haaretz reports, hadn’t been accepted or rejected by the administration as of Friday.

According to a UNICEF report from October 17, water production in Gaza was only at 5 percent of its normal levels at that point; experts say that many in Gaza currently only have access to seawater mixed with sewage. 

The water in Gaza is often contaminated with nitrates as a result of agricultural runoff. Nitrate contamination is well-known to cause a condition called blue baby syndrome, or infant methemoglobinemia, when mixed in infant formula, which can cause coma and death. Nitrates in drinking water can also cause premature birth, increasing a newborn’s need to go to the NICU as hospitals in Gaza are in danger of running out of power to keep NICU babies alive.

The State Department report says that the roughly 640,000 displaced people staying in shelters run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) only have access to about half a liter of water per person per day, or about 17 ounces. This is compared to the 15 liters of water recommended by the WHO at a minimum for human needs, and the 50 to 100 liters per person per day for basic needs and in case health issues arise.

The report comes as Gaza is facing outbreaks of communicable diseases like chickenpox and scabies, and pregnant people are already questioning how they will give birth or address pregnancy concerns without regular appointments. It also comes as Israel’s assault has killed more children in Gaza than the total number of children killed in global conflicts since 2019, according to Save the Children, with at least 3,324 children killed in Gaza and 36 children in the West Bank killed so far.

https://truthout.org/articles/over-30000-babies-in-gaza-are-drinking-contaminated-water-us-state-dept-says/

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SEE ALSO: https://jacobin.com/2023/10/gaza-palestine-israel-war-military-solution-cease-fire-naomi-klein-omar-baddar

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced on Tuesday that it denied the Elon Musk-owned Starlink’s appeal and will not award the company a $866 million subsidy from the Universal Service Fund meant to expand broadband access to rural areas.

Writing in fiery dissent, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr accused the agency of targeting Elon Musk and his businesses at the behest of the Biden administration.

Carr began his dissent by pointing out that US President Joe Biden told reporters in early November that Musk “is worth being looked at” after his purchase of Twitter, since renamed X. It notes that when Biden was pressed by a reporter on what ways the government would look into at Musk, the president responded “there’s a lot of ways.”

"President Biden gave federal agencies a green light to go after him [Musk]," Carr wrote.

Last year, after Elon Musk acquired Twitter, President Biden gave federal agencies the green light to go after him.

And they have.

Today, the FCC adds itself to the growing list of federal agencies engaging in the regulatory harassment of Elon Musk.

I dissent. pic.twitter.com/1zEoGCwiNk

— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) December 12, 2023

Carr then notes that the Department of Justice, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, the National Labor Relation Board, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the US Fish and Wildlife Service have all opened investigations into Musk or his businesses since Biden made those comments.

The subsidy was planned to fund Starlink and help bring broadband internet to 640,000 rural homes in 38 states.

In his dissent, Carr stated the FCC applied a novel new standard specifically for Starlink, ostensibly over concerns about how its low-Earth-orbit satellites (LEOs) made it impossible to pass and then applied that standard only to Starlink. He contends the decision by the FCC “cannot be explained by any objective application of laws, facts, or policy.”

According to Carr, the FCC required that Starlink show it is currently providing the required 100 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload speed to the 640,000 homes, rather than the previous standard of providing that service to at least 40% of those homes by December 31, 2025.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231214/fcc-commissioner-biden-gave-federal-agencies-green-light-to-target-elon-musk-1115565308.html

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