In a move that further tightens the blockade on Gaza, Israeli forces have severed the sole power line supplying electricity to the central desalination plant in Deir al-Balah, plunging over a million residents into an escalating water crisis. This facility, which provides drinking water to thousands of displaced people, had been a fragile lifeline in a territory already enduring the devastating consequences of war and siege.

With the plant producing 16,000 cubic meters of potable water daily, its shutdown leaves vast swathes of Gaza—particularly Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis—on the brink of catastrophe. Already overcrowded due to mass displacement, these areas now face the dire prospect of severe dehydration and disease outbreaks. The latest restrictions come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to halt all aid and commercial shipments into Gaza, marking yet another escalation in a blockade that has systematically starved the population of basic necessities.

Nizar Ayyash, the mayor of Deir al-Balah, condemned the move as a deliberate act of collective punishment, warning that the consequences will be disastrous. The region had struggled for months to keep the plant running on solar panels and backup generators after Israeli strikes crippled Gaza’s infrastructure. Now, with no alternative power sources and water wells destroyed during the war, residents are left scrambling for survival. Aid groups have issued urgent warnings, calling for immediate intervention to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.

For Gaza’s people, who have endured relentless bombings, forced displacement, and an ongoing blockade, this latest assault on essential services underscores a brutal reality—one in which even the most basic human needs are denied. As the international community watches, the people of Gaza are once again left to suffer the consequences of policies designed to push them to breaking point.