The PCHR warned of ‘an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe threatening the lives of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza [GETTY]
A Palestinian human rights group has accused Israel of deliberately cutting off Gaza’s water supply in a bid to render the territory uninhabitable, warning that the move was part of an ongoing strategy to impose death by deprivation on the Palestinian population.
Marking World Water Day on Saturday, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) warned Israel’s actions threaten the lives of the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza amid an ongoing strategy to create conditions designed to slowly inflict death on Palestinians in the besieged enclave.
The PCHR report details how Israeli forces have relentlessly targeted Gaza’s vital facilities – including water desalination plants, wastewater treatment stations, and water storage tanks – crippling access to clean and safe water. As a result, residents are now forced to rely on contaminated and insufficient water supplies.
Over 97 percent of Gaza’s groundwater is now unfit for human consumption due to extreme contamination and salinity – a crisis exacerbated by Israel’s construction of dams along the border, which block aquifers from replenishing.
The crisis has worsened further as Israel’s Ramadan aid blockade continues to prevent the delivery of vital fuel, repair equipment, and spare parts needed to operate Gaza’s damaged desalination and sewage treatment facilities.
According to UNICEF, 90 percent of Gaza’s population now lacks access to clean drinking water amid Israel’s ongoing blockade – a situation that has drawn widespread condemnation from Arab states, international aid groups, and the United Nations.
In March, Israeli forces cut power to a central desalination plant in Deir al-Balah, slashing its water production by 80 percent and deepening the crisis.
The report notes that prior to October 2023, Gaza’s residents received an average of 86 litres of water per person daily.
Since Israel’s assault on Gaza began, that figure has plummeted to between three and 12 litres — far below the 100 litres per person recommended by the World Health Organisation for basic survival.