(NewsNation) — A clean water shortage is endangering displaced children in southern Rafah, where uprooted civilians are limited to as little as 1.5 to 2 liters of water per day.

That’s about half the estimated minimum (3 liters) needed for survival alone, UNICEF said in a statement, adding water services are “at the point of collapse.”

To get by, people in Gaza continue to turn to unsafe water sources. The highly salinated and polluted water poses an extra danger to children, who are more susceptible to diarrhea, disease and malnutrition, the United Nations warned.

“Already, officials have recorded almost 20 times the monthly average of reported cases of diarrhea among children under the age of five, in addition to increases of cases of scabies, lice, chicken pox, skin rashes and more than 160,000 cases of acute respiratory infection,” UNICEF reported.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza have been displaced since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel. Many not only lack sufficient drinking water, but are also in need of food, shelter, medicine and protection, according to UNICEF.

The agency has made several calls for generators to operate water sanitation sites and fix damaged plumbing. Those materials, however, have been blocked from entering Gaza.

An Israeli blockade by land and sea has controlled the movement of goods across the border since 2007. The Israeli government has said the blockade is intended to keep Hamas from seizing supplies. Critics have labeled the blockade a collective punishment that devastated Gaza’s economy.