The medical organisation Doctors Without Borders has warned that Israel is deliberately depriving people in the Gaza Strip of life-saving water and condemned what it said was Israel’ s policy of collective punishment.
In a report titled “Water as a Weapon”, MSF said the widespread destruction of Gaza’s civilian water infrastructure, combined with restrictions on access, forms part of a broader pattern of harm against the population.
The report, based on testimonies and data collected between 2024 and 2025, said water scarcity is unfolding alongside the killing of civilians, the destruction of health facilities and the demolition of homes, creating what it described as devastating and inhumane living conditions.
MSF’s emergency director, Claire San Filippo, said in a statement: “The Israeli authorities know that life ends without water, yet they have deliberately and systematically destroyed Gaza’s water infrastructure while continuing to block the entry of water-related supplies.”
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The organisation cited data from the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank indicating that around 90 per cent of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged.
It added that desalination plants, wells, pipelines and sewage networks are largely inoperable or inaccessible, and documented incidents in which water trucks and wells were targeted or destroyed.
According to MSF, Palestinians have been killed or injured while attempting to access water. The organisation said it is currently one of the main providers of drinking water in Gaza, supplying more than 5.3 million litres daily to over 407,000 people.
MSF also reported that roughly one-third of its requests to bring in essential water and sanitation supplies—including desalination units, pumps, tanks and treatment chemicals—have either been rejected or received no response.
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