Is Israel using water supply restrictions as a weapon of war in the Gaza war? The Israeli authorities deny this. But the destroyed infrastructure is a problem.
If you ask Israeli authorities and Palestinians what the water supply is like in Gaza, you will get contradictory statements. What is clear is that there were also statements like this one from Israel's then Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who said a few hours after the terrorist attack on October 7th: “We have ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no Water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We fight against animals and act accordingly.”
Sentences like these appear in reports that seek to prove that Israel is systematically using water withdrawal as a weapon of war in the Gaza war. This was the conclusion reached by a report by Oxfam in the summer, and a new report by Human Rights Watch comes to similar conclusions. In fact, there are videos showing Israeli soldiers turning off water pipes. But after more than 14 months of war, the destruction of Gaza's water infrastructure is a particular problem.
Living with the lack of water
You reach Ghada Al-Haddad in the Gaza Strip, in Deir el Balah she works for Oxfam – but she also lives with the water shortage herself: “Since the beginning of the war, we have been rationing the water. We tell the children and the whole family that. Because even if we might now If we have water, it is not certain whether there will be any tomorrow.” That is terrible because water is a basic human right. “Everyone should have access to water,” says Al-Haddad. “But what we see is that there is less than the minimum.”
In Germany, each person uses an average of 128 liters of water per day. According to official information, supplies in Gaza were not bad before the war – on average a person had around 90 liters per day. Now, according to Oxfam's calculations, it is well under ten liters – in the north of the area even under five liters per person per day.
“Can you imagine that?” asks Al-Haddad. “We use that for drinking, cooking and washing, for everything – and that is well below the internationally recognized minimum of 15 liters a day per person to be able to survive in an emergency.”
Israel presents different figures
The Israeli Civil Administration for the Palestinian Territories mentions ARD-Request other figures: According to this, tens of thousands of tons of water were brought into the area by truck. According to Israeli information, people in the north should have access to around 107 liters of water per capita per day, in the central part of the area around 34 liters, and in the south around 20 liters per capita per day. This cannot be checked.
But you can talk to Monther Shoblak, the head of the municipal water company in Gaza. He has been in Cairo for months – but keeps in touch with his colleagues. He reports on an incident at the end of October: Palestinian workers wanted to repair a water pipe, the operation was coordinated with the Israeli authorities, says Shoblak: “That didn't protect them from being targeted, even before they had arrived to repair the pipe repair,” he says. “Even before they got into the car, they were attacked and killed. There were four people – and that's just the latest case. Before that, we lost another 15 of our people. They were killed, attacked when they were going to work. “
Destroyed wells
Shoblak is an engineer and also answers the question of whether Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza by withdrawing water with figures: “80 percent of the wells in Gaza are destroyed today, including in the north. Three sewage treatment plants were built with tax money from our partners are almost destroyed, the facility in the middle part, which was financed by Germany, is completely.” Currently only 16 percent of production capacity is available.
And according to human rights organizations, this not only has direct consequences in the form that people are in danger of dying of thirst: doctors in Gaza report spreading diseases, poor hygiene due to the lack of water and people completely weakened.
They spend many hours a day trying to get water, which is often delivered by truck. Israel emphasizes that it is doing a lot to improve the situation. The reports from the Gaza Strip speak a different language.
