(Photo: Mayet Al Ahel)
By Abigail Klein Leichman - May 17, 2020
Children and staff at Gaza’s only pediatric cancer hospital now have access to safe drinking water thanks to an atmospheric water generator (AWG) from Israel’s Watergen.
Pulling water out of air is a remarkable feat. And so was getting the 780-kilo GEN-M machine to Gaza City from Israel via the Kerem Shalom border crossing.
Due to ongoing attacks launched from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, Israel carefully controls the transfer of materials through Kerem Shalom. And the coronavirus crisis has further limited cross-border activity.
But Watergen President Michael Mirilashvili was determined to help once he found out about the hospital’s dire need from Fayez Husseini of Mayet Al Ahel, a Palestinian Authority company that facilitates water and power projects in Gaza. (Mayet Al Ahel means “community drinking water” in Arabic.)
“When the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund informed us of the water situation and how it is affecting the cancer ward, the project and timing were challenging,” Husseini said.
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