The unfolding water catastrophe in Gaza – occupied Palestinian territory

The Impact of Conflict on Water Security in Gaza

The current crisis comes on top of a long-standing struggle for water in Gaza – and demonstrates again how access to clean water is often one of the first casualties of conflict. Bushra Khalidi and Awssan Kamal set out six ways the destruction and obstruction of water supplies is having devastating short- and long-term impacts on civilians.

With Gaza’s over two million people under siege, the water situation is desperate. However, it’s crucial to acknowledge that the current hostilities have exacerbated a crisis that was already pushing Gaza to the brink. For the past 16 years, Gaza has endured the weight of an ongoing blockade, which has severely hampered the region’s ability to manage essential resources, particularly water.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
• SDG 5: Gender Equality
• SDG 13: Climate Action

The Water Crisis in Gaza

The UN Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) cluster, of which Oxfam is a member, says that only three litres of water a day are now available per person in Gaza. To put this into perspective, the World Health Organisation recommends in an emergency one person needs between 7.5 and 20 litres of water each day to meet basic health needs. Bottled water stocks are running low and the cost of bottled water has already surged beyond the reach of an average Gaza family. In Gaza, water has become a luxury item.

Bombs are destroying water infrastructure and preventing work to restore supplies.

Gaza’s essential water and sanitation infrastructure is being destroyed as the bombing and conflict escalates. Another critical factor is that Israel has been cutting off or severely limiting water supplies as well as supplies of power, with a blockade on the fuel that keeps power plants running. Water trucking operations (bringing in water in lorries) are severely hampered or have stopped in northern parts.

Short-Term Impacts

1. Most Gazans are forced to resort to non-potable water sources, including saline-brackish agricultural wells, exposing themselves to waterborne diseases, most notably cholera, with health repercussions that extend far beyond the immediate effects of conflict.
2. Sewage and solid waste are piling up on the streets, posing significant health hazards. With sewage systems and wastewater treatment plants non-operational due to a lack of fuel, over 130,000 cubic meters of wastewater is being discharged into the Mediterranean Sea daily.
3. Lack of water affects personal hygiene, further raising the risk of diseases. Children under five are particularly vulnerable to this water shortage, facing the risk of diarrheal diseases. This represents a tragic escalation of civilian suffering, with the youngest the most severely impacted.
4. The lack of water is having a heavy impact on women and girls. With limited water, mothers struggle to make baby formula, and the conflict trauma is affecting breast milk production. The scarcity of water and lack of privacy in overcrowded conditions also make menstrual management a significant challenge, leading many women to take medication to alter menstrual cycles. Additionally, lack of water exacerbates the dire healthcare situation, with over 50,000 women at risk of giving birth in non-operational hospitals that lack supplies. This not only endangers women’s physical health but also their dignity and emotional well-being.
5. Lack of water in hospitals in Gaza is putting the lives of thousands of inpatients at immediate risk. Water is of course essential for maintaining sanitary conditions in hospitals, preventing hospital-associated infections, and saving the lives of patients in critical care. Healthcare workers need water to keep going and do their jobs.
6. The lack of wastewater treatment and the discharge of sewage into the sea will cause environmental damage that could have long-term consequences for the region’s ecology, and damage civilians’ livelihoods.

Long-Term Impacts

All of this comes on top of a water system that was already at breaking point even before this conflict. This video from 2022 highlights how the depletion of Gaza’s coastal aquifer, decrease in rainwater, and doubling of the population over the last 20 years, led to just 1% of Gaza’s population having access to safe drinking water before the current wave of infrastructure destruction.

Oxfam’s Response

Oxfam partners have begun a small distribution of soap, shampoo, menstrual products and toothpaste but the scale of need and logistical chaos pose massive challenges to humanitarian response. The world cannot leave 2.3 million people struggling to survive without access to clean water, which is a fundamental human right.

Cutting off water represents a clear violation of international humanitarian law (IHL), which explicitly protects vital civilian infrastructure, including water systems (UN Security Council Resolution 2573). Urgent international action is needed to prevent a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions and to address the immediate and long-term consequences of the Gaza water crisis.

That’s why we have been calling for an immediate ceasefire and for Israel to restore water to Gaza. A ceasefire will enable agencies including Oxfam to respond, and much of that operation will be around water: providing people with clean water, distributing sanitation and hygiene items, and rehabilitation of water and wastewater networks that have been destroyed in the bombing. That response cannot come soon enough.

About the Authors

Bushra Khalidi is Policy Lead, Oxfam Country Office, Occupied Palestinian Territory

Awssan Kamal is Senior Influencing Adviser, Rights Resilience Response, Oxfam GB

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
• SDG 5: Gender Equality
• SDG 13: Climate Action
• SDG 14: Life Below Water

The article discusses the water crisis in Gaza, which directly relates to SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation). The lack of access to clean water and sanitation facilities has significant implications for the health and well-being of the population, aligning with SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being). The article also highlights the disproportionate impact on women and girls, addressing SDG 5 (Gender Equality). The environmental damage caused by the discharge of sewage into the sea connects to SDG 14 (Life Below Water), while the mention of the depletion of Gaza’s coastal aquifer and the decrease in rainwater relates to SDG 13 (Climate Action).

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• Target 6.1: By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.
• Target 6.2: By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations.
• Target 3.3: By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases, and other communicable diseases.
• Target 5.1: End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
• Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries.
• Target 14.1: By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution.

The targets identified above are directly related to the issues discussed in the article. These targets aim to ensure access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities (Target 6.1 and 6.2), combat water-borne diseases (Target 3.3), promote gender equality (Target 5.1), strengthen resilience to climate-related hazards (Target 13.1), and prevent marine pollution (Target 14.1).

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Indicator 6.1.1: Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services
• Indicator 6.2.1: Proportion of population using safely managed sanitation services, including a handwashing facility with soap and water
• Indicator 3.3.2: Number of new cases of selected water-borne diseases
• Indicator 5.1.1: Whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce, and monitor equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex
• Indicator 13.1.1: Number of deaths, missing persons, and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
• Indicator 14.1.1: Index of coastal eutrophication and floating plastic debris density

The article does not explicitly mention these indicators, but they can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets. These indicators provide specific metrics to assess the availability of safe drinking water and sanitation services (Indicators 6.1.1 and 6.2.1), the incidence of water-borne diseases (Indicator 3.3.2), the existence of legal frameworks promoting gender equality (Indicator 5.1.1), the impact of disasters on the population (Indicator 13.1.1), and the level of marine pollution (Indicator 14.1.1).

4. Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators