Israel uses water as a weapon of collective punishment against Palestinians in Gaza

JERUSALEM – Israeli authorities have used 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 Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). MSF urges the 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 the Israeli authorities’ repeated weaponisation 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.

“Israeli authorities know that without water life ends, yet they have deliberately and systematically obliterated water infrastructure in Gaza, whilst 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.”

Israel has destroyed or damaged nearly 90 per cent of water and sanitation infrastructure in Gaza, including desalination plants, boreholes, pipelines, and sewage systems (1). ​ MSF teams have documented the 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]. He went to get some drinking water,” says Hanan, a Palestinian woman in Gaza City. “He was standing in line with other kids, and they [the Israeli forces] killed him. He was 10 years old... Getting water is not supposed to be dangerous.”

The cumulative effect of the water scarcity engineered by Israeli authorities is that it simply is not possible to provide people with sufficient water. After the local authorities, MSF is the largest producer and a main distributor of drinking water in Gaza, yet between May and November 2025, one in every five of our water distributions ran dry as our trucks were unable to carry sufficient water for all the people who required it. Israeli military displacement orders have locked our teams out of areas where we had provided water to hundreds of thousands of people, leading to essential services stopping 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 that were approved by the Israeli authorities, were then subsequently turned away at the border.

“We need water,” says Ali, a Palestinian displaced and 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 faeces.

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 diarrhoeal diseases. Skin diseases comprised nearly 18 per cent of MSF general healthcare consultations in 2025, while between May and August 2025, we found that nearly 25 per cent of people had experienced gastrointestinal illness in the previous month.

1. According to the United Nations, the European Union, and the World Bank.

Note on MSF’s activities:

MSF is the largest producer of drinking water in the Gaza Strip after local authorities. In March 2026, through gradual improvements despite the extremely restricted conditions, MSF produced or distributed over 5.3 million litres of water in Gaza each day, the equivalent of the minimum needs of over 407,000 people – one in five inhabitants of the Strip. During the month of March, MSF distributed over 100 million litres: that is 1,507 km of 20-litre jerrycans lined up, the equivalent of stretching from Riyadh to Amman, or London to Rome.