Israel uses water as a weapon of collective punishment against Palestinians in Gaza
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 Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Doctors Without Borders 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. Doctors Without Borders' 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.
The report documents the direct impacts of obstruction of water, sanitation and hygiene on people in Gaza, on their health, dignity, and safety, and how this access has been weaponised in the Israeli authorities’ genocidal campaign. It also documents attacks on Doctors Without Borders' water assets across the Gaza Strip.
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