War on water: HRW denounces that Israel has deprived Palestinians in Gaza of the minimum amount to survive

Israeli authorities have deprived most of the more than two million Gazans of minimal water since the war began in October 2023 until September 2024, contributing to death and the spread of disease among the population. population of the Strip. This is the conclusion reached by the organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) after interviewing dozens of Palestinians, health and municipal workers, in addition to analyzing satellite images of the destruction caused by the Israeli Army.

In its new report, “Extermination and acts of genocide: Israel deprives Palestinians of water in Gaza,” HRW assures that, due to the destruction of the health system in Gaza since October 2023, it is impossible to know the true extent of “the actions of the Israeli authorities that have deprived the Palestinians of water.” However, the NGO assures that “these policies have probably contributed to thousands of deaths.”

HRW recalls that, at the beginning of the punitive war that Israel launched against Gaza following the attacks by the Islamist group Hamas on October 7, several government ministers clearly expressed their intention to deprive Gazan civilians of water. Since then, Israel has cut off the supply of water and other basic goods for the survival of the population. The water that Israel supplies to Gaza through three large pipelines is insufficient and local production has decreased drastically because Israel has also cut off electricity and fuel supplies (necessary for the purification plants, desalination plants, etc.) to operate and has damaged water infrastructure.

According to HRW in its report, the amount of water made drinkable in Gaza in August 2024 represented around 25% of the amount made drinkable before the conflict, far below what the population of the Strip needs to survive. Furthermore, almost all Gazans have been displaced and many of them are in areas where there is no adequate water infrastructure – for example, in the so-called “humanitarian zone” of Al Mawasi, where Gazans live in tents. field, without running water or sanitation.

The NGO also notes that Israeli authorities have “significantly restricted the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza” and “have specifically blocked supplies related to water treatment and production,” including water filtration systems, tanks of water and material necessary to repair said infrastructure.

Restrictions and deliberate destruction

HRW spoke with several workers from humanitarian organizations who explained that the Israeli authorities prohibit the entry into Gaza of so-called “dual-use” products, that is, those that can be used for military purposes; but they have not provided a list of the banned products or a written explanation of why they are considered such, and they have not accepted the appeals of the organizations after the veto of some vital goods.

A worker from a consortium of humanitarian organizations and UN agencies that is responsible for water, sanitation and hygiene told HRW that they have faced several impediments from the Israeli authorities, which have prevented them from repairing infrastructure, from entering Gaza. materials related to water, sanitation and hygiene, and that have not guaranteed the safety of those offering help of this type. “I have never been in an answer [humanitaria] in which, two months after my arrival, the situation is worse than when I arrived,” lamented the worker anonymously.

According to HRW research, since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Israeli forces have deliberately attacked and damaged or destroyed water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, including four of the Strip’s six wastewater treatment plants. and an important water reservoir in the south.

The NGO has spoken with doctors and health personnel about the diseases derived from the consumption of unsafe water and also from the lack of hygiene, and the unsanitary conditions in which many Gazans live. “Dehydration and malnutrition also undermine people’s ability to heal from injuries and illnesses, leading to infections, illnesses, and deaths,” HRW states in its report. Several health care workers told the organization that they treated many people whose wounds did not heal or patients who succumbed to illnesses because their immune systems were weakened.

Several doctors and nurses told HRW of seeing large numbers of babies suffering from malnutrition, dehydration and infections during their first months of life, which in some cases caused their death. Asma Taha, a pediatric nurse who volunteered in Gaza in May 2024, said that between one and three babies were dying “every day” from a combination of these causes.

A possible war crime

HRW recalls that International Humanitarian Law prohibits attacking, destroying, removing or disabling objects essential for the survival of the civilian population, including water and sanitation infrastructure; and when such attacks are deliberate, the destruction can constitute a war crime. Israeli forces have deliberately attacked water and sanitation infrastructure in Gaz, rendering almost all of that infrastructure useless, the NGO adds.

“The intentional destruction of objects essential for survival by the Israeli authorities and their disabling is equivalent to a war crime,” he concludes.

Furthermore, the use of hunger as a weapon is also a war crime and “hunger includes the deprivation of water,” specifies HRW. “The actions of Israeli authorities and forces to intentionally destroy and disable water infrastructure essential for the survival of the civilian population in Gaza constitute the use of starvation as a method of war.”