In Gaza, where survival has long been a struggle, the right to clean drinking water has now become a fading memory. For over two months, no humanitarian aid has entered the Strip, leaving nearly 90% of its population without safe water. According to UNICEF’s Jonathan Crickx, the damage to Gaza’s water infrastructure is massive, with 65 to 70% of the system shattered by ongoing Israeli attacks. Desalination plants can no longer operate due to a lack of essential chemicals, and children, already vulnerable, are facing the gravest consequences of this collapse.

The situation is compounded by direct assaults on infrastructure. The Gaza Municipality has reported that nearly 75% of water wells have been severely damaged, and it now supplies water to less than half the city’s population. Across the territory, over 1,500 kilometres of water networks lie in ruins, and 47 sewage stations have been struck — many completely destroyed. These figures reflect more than just statistics; they represent the silent suffering of families who now queue for hours for a few litres of water, if they are lucky enough to find any at all.

Years of blockade had already weakened Gaza’s water system, but the current war has pushed it to collapse. The scale of destruction has transformed a chronic crisis into a daily emergency. Gaza’s people now face dehydration, disease, and despair — not because of natural disaster, but because the world has turned away while their most basic needs are denied.