Palestine: Israel uses water as a weapon of collective punishment in Gaza
MSF report shows water shortages in Gaza driving disease and worsening living conditions
Israeli authorities use access to water as a weapon against Palestinians, systematically depriving people in Gaza of water in a campaign of collective punishment, according to a report released by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). MSF urges Israeli authorities to immediately restore water for people at the required levels in Gaza. Israel’s allies must use their leverage to pressure Israel to stop impeding humanitarian access, including water infrastructure needs.
The deliberate denial of water from Palestinians is an integral part of Israel’s genocide. MSF’s report, Water as a weapon: Israel’s destruction and deprivation of water and sanitation in Gaza, documents how Israeli authorities’ repeated weaponization of water are not isolated acts, but part of a recurrent, systematic and cumulative pattern. It is occurring alongside the direct killing of civilians, the devastation of health facilities and the flattening of homes forcing mass displacement. Together, they constitute a deliberate infliction of destructive and inhumane conditions on Palestinians in Gaza.
“My grandson was in Nuseirat, in July [2025]. He went to get some drinking water. He was standing in line with other kids and they [Israeli forces] killed him. He was 10 years old… Getting water is not supposed to be dangerous.”
Hanan, a Palestinian woman in Gaza City
“Israeli authorities know that without water life ends. Yet they have deliberately and systematically obliterated water infrastructure in Gaza, while consistently blocking water-related supplies from entering,” says Claire San Filippo, MSF emergency manager.
“Palestinians have been injured and killed simply trying to access water,” says San Filippo. “This deprivation, combined with dire living conditions, extreme overcrowding and a collapsed health system, create a perfect storm for the spread of diseases.”
Total destruction of water infrastructures
Israel has destroyed or damaged nearly 90 per cent of water and sanitation infrastructure in Gaza, including desalination plants, boreholes, pipelines and sewage systems. MSF teams have documented Israeli military shooting at clearly identified water trucks or destroying boreholes that were a lifeline for tens of thousands of people. Violent incidents have often occurred as water was being distributed to people, injuring Palestinians and aid workers and damaging equipment.
“My grandson was in Nuseirat, in July [2025],” says Hanan, a Palestinian woman in Gaza City. “He went to get some drinking water. He was standing in line with other kids and they [Israeli forces] killed him. He was 10 years old… Getting water is not supposed to be dangerous.”
Water as a weapon: Israel’s destruction and deprivation of water and sanitation in Gaza
Insufficient water supplies to meet demand
The cumulative effect of water scarcity engineered by Israeli authorities means it is not possible to provide sufficient water to people. After local authorities, MSF is the largest producer and main distributor of drinking water in Gaza. Yet between May and November 2025, one in five of our water distributions ran dry as our trucks were unable to carry enough water for all the people who needed it. Displacement orders have blocked our teams from accessing areas where we had provided water to hundreds of thousands of people, leading to the suspension of essential services and the loss of lifesaving infrastructure.
Israeli authorities have hindered the entry of essential water and sanitation materials into Gaza. Since October 2023, electricity, fuel and supplies like generators, their spare parts and engine oil — critical to power water treatment and distribution — have been cut or tightly restricted. One third of our requests to bring in critical water and sanitation supplies have been rejected or left unanswered. These supplies include water desalination units, pumps, chlorine and other chemicals to treat water, water tanks, insect repellent and latrines. Many of the items approved by Israel were then turned away at the border.
Direct health consequences
“We need water,” says Ali, a Palestinian displaced person living in a camp in Deir Al-Balah. “It does not make sense. It’s like we are asking the world for the essentials of life.”
The consequences of this deprivation of access to water are far-reaching on people’s health, hygiene and dignity, particularly for women and people with disabilities. Access to basic hygiene, including clean water, soap, diapers and menstrual hygiene products has become extremely difficult. People are forced to dig holes in the sand as toilets, which flood and contaminate the surroundings and groundwater with feces.
The lack of access to water and hygiene, coupled with life in dire and undignified conditions like overcrowded tents and makeshift shelters, also leads to increases in diseases, including respiratory infections, skin diseases and diarrheal diseases. Skin diseases accounted for nearly 18 per cent of MSF general healthcare consultations in 2025, while between May and August 2025, nearly 25 per cent of people had experienced gastrointestinal illness in the previous month.
MSF’s water and sanitation activities in Gaza
MSF is the largest producer of drinking water in the Gaza Strip after local authorities. In March 2026, despite extremely restricted conditions, MSF produced or distributed over 5.3 million litres of water per day in Gaza, the equivalent of the minimum needs of over 407,000 people or one in five residents of the area. During the month of March, MSF distributed over 100 million litres, equal to 1,507 kilometres of 20-litre jerrycans lined up, roughly the distance from Riyadh to Amman or Vancouver to Saskatoon.
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