In Gaza, water is no longer a basic right—it is a distant dream. As Israel’s siege intensifies, cutting off vital supplies and destroying critical infrastructure, more than two million Palestinians are being pushed into a deadly water crisis. The taps have run dry, the wells are broken, and even contaminated water has become a lifeline.

Residents now walk for hours under a burning sky, clutching empty containers, in search of any source—no matter how polluted. The bombing of the Mekorot pipeline, which once delivered most of Gaza City’s water, has left entire neighbourhoods in despair. Desalination plants and wells lie in ruins, and water trucks dare not enter areas marked for evacuation.

In eastern Gaza, the daily hunt for water is exhausting and humiliating. “We have nothing,” says 50-year-old Jihad Al-Ghafir. “There are no plants, no trucks, no wells left. We are abandoned.”

Queues stretch for blocks. Children, the elderly, the sick—all waiting for a bucket of water that may do more harm than good. The World Health Organization has warned that Gaza’s water availability is now far below the minimum required for survival. Over 85% of water facilities are out of service. The result: more than 1.7 million cases of waterborne illness and dozens of deaths from dehydration, especially among children.

Water has been transformed into a weapon—a slow, suffocating method of destruction. By cutting power and fuel to vital water systems, bombing pipelines, and blockading aid, Israel is denying Palestinians the most essential element of life. And the world watches in silence as thirst becomes a method of war.