Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières
Wissam Badawi spends her days waiting and listening, in the hope that she might hear the distinctive honk of a water truck entering her neighborhood. These trucks, manned by local volunteers, have become the last lifeline for the 49-year-old mother of eight along with thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City, amid an increasingly severe water crisis caused by Israel’s ongoing assault on the Strip.
“Most of the water pipelines have been destroyed due to bulldozing by the Israeli army, and the municipality can’t repair them,“ Badawi, who lives in the neighborhood of Tel Al-Hawa, told +972. “There’s no well nearby, so I have to send my kids to the sea to fetch water for daily use. Then I wait for the truck to arrive so I can mix clean water with the seawater to reduce its salinity and make it drinkable.“
Palestinians collect drinking water in Gaza City, in the central Gaza Strip, April 10, 2025. (Ruwaida Amer)
Due to the extreme shortage, the price of water in Gaza’s markets has skyrocketed. “The cost of a gallon of water ranges from NIS 5-8 [$1.30-$2.20]. We need about five gallons a day for drinking and cooking, and it’s hard for me to afford that. Besides, there’s no one selling water in our area — so if no trucks arrive, I have to walk a long distance to buy it.”
In areas where there are no trucks to bring water, many Gazans are forced to walk for miles and queue for hours to fill up a single container at a well. But even these are in increasingly short supply, having either been bombed or rendered inaccessible by Israeli evacuation orders. UNICEF has warned that the water crisis in the Strip has reached “critical levels,” noting that only one in 10 people currently have access to clean drinking water.
This crisis is not a side effect of Israel’s onslaught, but rather a deliberate aspect of it. According to data from Gaza’s Government Media Office, the Israeli army has destroyed 719 water wells since October 7. On March 10, Israel
Palestinians collect drinking water in Gaza City, in the central Gaza Strip, April 10, 2025. (Ruwaida Amer)
Another, the Ghabayen plant in Gaza City, was bombed in early April. And on April 5, Israel halted the water supply to Gaza from the Israeli company Mekorot, which provided nearly 70 percent of the Strip’s drinking water.
Ahmad Al-Buhaisi a 22-year-old water vendor from Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza whose supply came from the Aquamatch desalination plant, told +972: “The station’s closure didn’t just cut off my livelihood — it also deprived many citizens of the chance to access clean, drinkable water.“
He explained that people are constantly contacting him to request that he bring water to their homes, and all he can do is apologize and tell him there are no desalination plants left operating. “I’m still searching for a functioning well where I can buy drinkable water,” he said. “But prices have risen dramatically, and it’s become difficult for us to buy and then resell it to the public.”
‘They are wiping out every lifeline’
The Ghabayen desalination plant — a private facility supplying parts of Gaza City and Jabalia — was one of northern Gaza’s vital water sources. On April 4, the Israeli army bombed it for the third time during the current war, killing Majd Ghabayen, the son of one of its owners. He happened to be inside the station, and his body was torn apart alongside the pipes and tanks.
“Each time the army bombed the facility, it caused massive destruction,” Ahmad Ghabayen, Majd’s younger brother, told +972. “Yet we always returned and repaired what we could with whatever money and resources we had, just to provide water for the people.”
Palestinians collect drinking water at the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, March 17, 2025. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
But the last strike was different. “This time, the well itself was targeted with a very large missile, which completely destroyed it,” Ghabayen said. “We were told it would be difficult to dig a new well because contamination from the missile strike had made it unusable.”
“Israel didn’t just target a water distribution facility; they destroyed a part of my family’s life and deprived thousands of people of water,” Ghabayen continued. “The station served large areas of Al-Tuffah, Shuja’iyyah, Al-Daraj, Sheikh Radwan, and Jabalia. People would come from far away to fill water containers. They are wiping out everything we consider a lifeline.”
The bombing of the Ghabayen station is part of a systematic policy Israel has followed since the beginning of the war: deliberately targeting water wells and the infrastructure connected to them, and cutting off water supplies that once flowed to Gaza through Israeli pipelines.
Wael Abu Amsha, a 51-year-old father of seven and one of the beneficiaries of the station, said its targeting represented a “severe blow” to hundreds of families who relied on it as a primary source of water. “After it was bombed, we started searching for an alternative source,” he told +972. “We found another station, but it’s far — about a half-hour walk — and its water isn’t truly clean. But we are forced to drink from it.
“We used to benefit from the station by buying drinking water at a price that hadn’t changed since before the war — and many days it was distributed for free,” he continued. “Salty water was also distributed freely all day, which helped us after the [Israeli] army destroyed the water pipelines that had provided water from the municipality. Now we’ve lost all types of water.
“People are suffering,” Abu Amsha went on. “I walk long distances and wait for hours just to fill one gallon of water for my family — which isn’t even enough. We end up mixing it with water from another station, whose water isn’t suitable for drinking but is closer than the first one. We have no other solution.”
Palestinians collect drinking water in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on March 17, 2025. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
A public health catastrophe
The water crisis doesn’t only lead to thirst; it also directly impacts the health of those suffering from illnesses. Samar Zaarab, a 45-year-old cancer patient from Khan Younis who is currently living in a tent in Al-Mawasi, told +972 that the water shortage exacerbates her daily pain. “My frail body desperately needs clean drinking water,” she said.
“Since I was displaced a few days ago, my suffering has increased,” Zaarab continued. “Water trucks don’t reach us, and the small amount of water we get isn’t enough even for the most basic daily needs like washing and cleaning. Without hygiene, my illness worsens. If I don’t die from the disease, it will be from the lack of clean water.”
Zuhd Al-Aziz, advisor to Gaza’s deputy minister of local government, told +972 that after Israel cut off electricity to the Strip and forced most desalination and water treatment plants to shut down, the entire population is facing a “catastrophic humanitarian crisis.”
According to Al-Aziz, the Israeli army directly targeted backup generators, making it extremely difficult to keep the facilities open. “85 percent of the fresh water sources in Gaza have been destroyed, forcing residents to use polluted and undrinkable water,” he explained. “About 90 percent of private and public desalination stations — 296 in total — have stopped operating, either due to direct targeting or fuel shortages. Five major wastewater treatment facilities have also ceased functioning, which has increased the risks of environmental pollution and disease outbreaks.”
Assem Al-Nabeeh, a spokesperson for the Gaza City Municipality, described the crisis in similarly stark language. “The Israeli occupation has destroyed more than 64 water wells in Gaza City alone, along with over 110,000 linear meters of water networks, leading to a severe drop in the available water supply,” he explained. “Currently, only 30 wells are operating, and they can’t meet even a fraction of the population’s needs — especially with the influx of displaced people from the northern districts.
Palestinians collect drinking water in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on March 4, 2025. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
“The municipality is working hard to find alternatives despite extremely limited resources, but the damage is enormous and cannot be compensated for under ongoing siege and bombardment,” Al-Nabeeh continued. “There is no fuel or spare parts — not for generators or well pumps. The wells cannot operate 24 hours continuously. About 61 percent of households now rely on purchasing drinking water from costly private sources, which is a dangerous indicator of the collapse of the public water system.”
Al-Nabeeh pointed out that the water crisis coincides with worsening hunger, ongoing siege, rising temperatures, and a deteriorating health and environmental situation caused by waste accumulation and sewage leakage — all of which pose a direct threat to residents’ lives, especially with no access to water for sterilization, hygiene, or cooking.
While it is impossible to acquire exact figures, Al-Nabeeh estimates that the average daily water supply has dropped to 3-5 liters per person per day — significantly lower than the 15 liters considered to be the minimum necessary for drinking, cooking, and hygiene to protect public health during emergencies.
“Water scarcity is known to cause the spread of epidemics and skin and intestinal diseases,” he added. “And if the ban on fuel and energy sources needed to operate essential facilities continues, it could lead to a massive shutdown of water and sewage infrastructure — further worsening the humanitarian and health catastrophe in the city.”
The Israeli army did not respond to +972’s request for comment at the time of publishing. Should one be received, it will be added here.
Ibtisam Mahdi
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