For Gaza resident Zaki Abu Sleyma the water now flowing into the devastated enclave from a desalination project in Egypt tastes "like sugar" after weeks of Israel's bombardment and siege left him and many others drinking unclean, brackish water.
The water comes from three plants built by the United Arab Emirates on the Egyptian side of the border and pumped into Rafah that started working on Tuesday, part of an effort to relieve one of the biggest humanitarian challenges in Gaza.
"We were really suffering ... we used to bring water from the sea before. This water tastes like sugar, it is drinkable," Abu Sleyman said.