Gaza’s main desalination plant has been forced to scale down after its electricity supply was cut by Israeli authorities, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary reports.

“It serves Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis, as well as Rafah and all the southern parts of Gaza. According to an engineer who works at the plant, it serves half a million people,” she said.

“Israeli authorities used to power a line for this plant. Authorities cut this line yesterday, but the desalination plant is still working. It obviously has a storage of fuel, and we can hear the generators. It also has solar panels,” she added.

“However, the amount of water it can produce without a power line is not the same. So, since the cut, people across the southern areas of Gaza have not been able to access water the way they used to,” Khoudary said.

“The cutoff of this power line comes as Israel continues to close off the Karem Abu Salem [Kerem Shalom] crossing, preventing fuel, food and medicine from entering Gaza for the ninth day,” Khoudary said.