Overview
- U.N. assessments say roughly 1.3 million people in Gaza now have access to less than six litres of drinking water per day and Médecins Sans Frontières reports the average is about 4.3 litres per person.
- Gaza authorities report about 80% of the water distribution network and most desalination capacity were damaged and fewer than 100 of roughly 320 pre-war wells remain operational, while Israeli military spokespeople say they do not deliberately target essential infrastructure.
- Health ministry officials say more than 300,000 cesspits and soak pits are discharging untreated sewage into Gaza's coastal aquifer, which is the territory's only natural source of fresh water and is now at risk of long-term contamination.
- Medical surveillance from MSF shows rising illness linked to poor water and sanitation, with acute respiratory infections at 46% of reported cases, skin disease at 31%, acute watery diarrhoea at 21%, and Palestinian health officials reporting about 5,000 chickenpox cases per week recently.
- Humanitarian aid is relying on water trucks that must drive through rubble to reach people, but deliveries are limited and cannot replace a functioning public system, forcing families to queue, use unsafe sources, and face repeated infections after clinic treatment.