The United Nations children’s fund has said that Israel has agreed to restore power to a key desalination plant in southern Gaza, which could provide much-needed water to a million displaced people, AFP reports.

“Unicef confirms an agreement [with Israel] was reached to re-establish the medium voltage feeder power line for the Southern Gaza Desalination Plant,” said Jonathan Crickx, the agency’s spokesman in the Palestinian territories.

The plant in Khan Yunis, once resupplied with electricity, should produce enough water to “meet what humanitarian standards define as a minimum intake of 15 litres per day of drinking water per person, for nearly a million displaced people” in southern Gaza, Crickx said.

“This is an important milestone, and we are very much looking forward to seeing it implemented.”

Israel’s coordinator for civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, known as Cogat, did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

The plant should be able to produce 15,000 cubic metres, or 15 million litres, of water per day at full capacity, according to Unicef.

Crickx said it was vital to also see “generators and infrastructure to be delivered” to address the damage to the battered territory, adding more than 60 per cent of its water distribution systems have been damaged since October.