Satellite images show Canada Water reservoir in Rafah, southern Gaza, on July 18 (left) and July 30 (right). \u00a92024 Maxar Technologies<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n There have been many water facilities damaged or destroyed by Israel\u2019s 10-month-long assault in Gaza, according to the UN and various other international bodies, compounding the civilian population\u2019s suffering, risking the spread of disease and leading human rights experts to accuse Israel of using water supply as a weapon. <\/p>\n
\u201cIHL is meant to protect against indiscriminate attacks on the civilian population or the objects they depend upon (for) survival,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Even before the controlled explosion in late July, the Israeli siege drained fuel and electricity supplies needed to power the Canada Water reservoir and other water systems in the city, according to Rafah\u2019s mayor, Ahmed Al-Sofi, causing severe shortages. <\/p>\n
The amount of water available in Gaza works out at 4.74 liters of water (1 gallon) per person per day, Oxfam reported in July, adding that this is \u201cjust under a third of the recommended minimum in emergencies and less than a single toilet flush.\u201d The international nonprofit has accused Israel of using water as a \u201cweapon of war,\u201d saying Palestinians in Gaza have \u201calmost no water to drink, let alone to bathe, cook, or clean.\u201d <\/p>\n
Extreme summer heat in Gaza is making a desperate shortage of water even worse for Palestinians already stalked by famine and struggling with repeated displacement. <\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s war in Gaza has reduced supplies of fuel, chlorine and spare parts, stifling water production, purification and sewage pumping, according to the UN. Around 70% of all water and sanitation facilities in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged, the WASH Cluster, a United Nations-led group that coordinates humanitarian efforts for water, sanitation and hygiene, said on July 24, citing satellite analysis from the UN Satellite Centre. <\/p>\n
More than 1.7 million cases of infectious diseases have been recorded in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health there. Traces of the highly infectious polio virus \u2013 transmitted through faeces, and contaminated water or food \u2013 were found in a 10-month-old child in the central Gazan city of Deir al-Balah earlier this month. World Health Organization (WHO) testing discovered the virus in sewage samples in Gaza in July, putting thousands of Palestinians at risk of contracting a disease that can cause paralysis. <\/p>\n
After the Gaza Ministry of Health declared a polio epidemic last month, the WHO warned that ongoing Israeli bombardment had stifled vaccination efforts in Gaza. They are now calling for a halt to the fighting to allow for an effective vaccination drive. <\/p>\n
Widower Alaa Riyad says he treks many miles every day under the glare of the sun to collect water for his family, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza. <\/p>\n
Israeli attacks in the strip have killed more than 40,200 Palestinians and injured about 93,000 since the war started, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. The Israeli military launched its aerial and ground assault in Gaza after the militant group Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and abducting more than 250, according to Israeli authorities. <\/p>\n
Gaza\u2019s water crisis has been building for decades. In 2017, the UN\u2019s children\u2019s agency, UNICEF, said that 95% of water from Gaza\u2019s sole aquifer was \u201cunfit for human consumption,\u201d due to over-extraction, seawater infiltration and sewage contamination. <\/p>\n
In 2021, about 90% of Gaza\u2019s water came from groundwater wells drawing water from that aquifer, according to the Palestinian Water Authority. The remaining 10% came mostly from desalination plants and Israel\u2019s national water company, Mekorot, via three pipelines. <\/p>\n
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\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing so far\u2026 is the near-complete destruction of all water infrastructure, which includes water pumping stations, water wells, the whole piping system in Gaza,\u201d Zwijnenburg said. \u201cThe few functioning pumps that are still operating, the quality of the water is so bad\u2026 (But) people have no choice but to drink it.\u201d <\/p>\n
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Within the first week of the war, Saaed Al-Madhoun, an emergency response manager for the humanitarian agency CARE International, was forced to flee an Israeli incursion with his family near their home in Gaza City, which was later flattened by bombardment. <\/p>\n
The aid worker is haunted by \u201cconstant fear and uncertainty,\u201d as the threat of Israeli attacks loom over his wife and five children, aged between 1 and 13 years old. They are displaced in miserable conditions in Deir al-Balah, where the entire family survives on just 20 liters of water per day \u2013 less than the minimum of 3 liters per person needed for survival, according to UNICEF. <\/p>\n
The Israeli offensive has displaced up to 1.9 million people \u2013 nearly the entire population \u2013 in Gaza, according to the UN. People in sprawling tent camps say they can barely access potable water or sanitation facilities in areas polluted by raw sewage and teeming with bugs. Women endure several menstrual cycles without washing, according to the UN. Others queue in the heat to use toilets at overwhelmed hospitals \u2013 or risk being chased by dogs to use washrooms in the middle of the night. The UN previously recorded one improvised shelter with only 25 toilets for 14,000 people inside and 59,000 outside. <\/p>\n