Gaza is facing an unprecedented water crisis as fuel shortages force desalination plants offline, threatening more than two million Palestinians with severe dehydration and deadly disease. Already deprived of food, electricity, and shelter, Gazans are now struggling to access the most basic element of life: clean water.
In the absence of fuel, private and public desalination stations have halted operations. “We’ve stretched every drop of fuel since Eid,” said Mohammad Al-Saafin, a plant worker in central Gaza. “But now, the pumps are silent. There’s nothing left to keep them running.”
The collapse of Gaza’s water system has driven prices beyond the reach of most families. “How can we buy water when we can’t buy bread?” asked Mohammad Umoum, a mobile water vendor. “People are choosing between thirst and hunger.”
Municipal services are also grinding to a halt. Waste collection, sewage treatment, and public water distribution have been reduced or suspended. The Gaza Municipality warned that this breakdown of sanitation could trigger an uncontrollable public health crisis, with children, already malnourished and vulnerable, at the greatest risk.
More than 97% of Gaza’s groundwater is already undrinkable. With desalination stations now shutting down and prices soaring, residents are being forced to consume polluted water or go without.
In a city under siege, where every breath is drawn in survival, even water has become a battleground. Without urgent international intervention to restore fuel supplies, Gaza’s thirst may become its next mass grave.
Source : Safa News