GAZA (Palestine Foundation Information Center)The Gaza Municipality has warned of an imminent and total collapse of the city’s water and sewage systems due to dwindling fuel supplies and the Israeli targeting of vital infrastructure. The crisis threatens to trigger a phase of “mass thirst” and a widespread health and environmental catastrophe affecting hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
Gaza Municipality spokesperson Husni Mehanna stated: “We are on the brink of a mass thirst crisis. The situation could spiral out of control at any moment. We urgently appeal to all international and humanitarian organizations to take immediate action—stop the Israeli war, open the crossings, and allow the entry of fuel and equipment to prevent disaster.”
In a press statement on Saturday, he added that hundreds of Palestinian families have been forced to flee to the seashore of Gaza City, where there are no basic services—chief among them, water.
Mehanna attributed the absence of services in these areas to the massive destruction of infrastructure, particularly in the southwestern parts of the city, caused by Israeli airstrikes and ground operations since the beginning of the war.
He noted that this reality has forced Palestinians to dig hundreds of random cesspits to dispose of sewage, posing a serious threat to the groundwater and risking contamination of water sources and the spread of disease, amid the absence of a functioning sewage system.
Mehanna further warned that water shortages in displacement areas would significantly worsen the humanitarian crisis, especially with the spread of famine and the near-total collapse of basic life necessities—pushing the city to the edge of an unprecedented environmental and public health disaster.
He continued: “We are facing a complete collapse of essential services, particularly water, sewage, and sanitation. This threatens to escalate the environmental and humanitarian catastrophe in the city due to shrinking fuel supplies and Israel’s deliberate targeting of vital infrastructure.”
The municipality spokesperson emphasized that hundreds of thousands of residents and displaced people, who have sought shelter in central and western Gaza City, are at serious risk. The situation will further deteriorate and become more complex unless immediate intervention occurs.
Mehanna explained that demand for water is rising, due to the overcrowding of displaced people in certain areas—some of which are completely cut off from water supplies due to extensive infrastructure damage. “We are on the verge of total water system collapse,” he said.
He also warned that sewage treatment plants may completely shut down due to the lack of fuel, which could worsen the health and environmental crisis as temperatures rise and displaced populations remain packed into small areas.
Mehanna added that any actual shutdown of sewage stations could lead to wastewater leaking into residential neighborhoods and low-lying areas, causing the spread of diseases and epidemics among both the displaced and the remaining residents.
Since October 7, 2023, the ongoing Israeli aggression has severely damaged the Gaza Strip’s water infrastructure. According to previous data from the Gaza government, more than 115,000 meters of water networks have been damaged, 63 wells have gone out of service, 4 major water tanks have been destroyed, and the only desalination plant in the northwest of Gaza City—which used to produce about 10,000 cubic meters of water daily—has shut down.
Mehanna concluded by saying that Gaza Municipality urgently needs around $16 million to restart water and sanitation facilities and save the population from a crisis that could escalate into an unprecedented humanitarian disaster.
The Gaza Strip has been facing a catastrophic humanitarian and relief crisis since Israel shut down all crossings on March 2, blocking the entry of food, medicine, aid, and fuel, while intensifying its genocidal campaign against the Palestinian population of the Strip.
With full US support, Israel has been committing acts of genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, resulting in over 175,000 Palestinians killed or injured, most of them women and children, and more than 11,000 missing, along with hundreds of thousands displaced.
Israel has maintained a blockade on the Gaza Strip for 18 years, and around 1.5 million Palestinians out of 2.4 million in the Strip are now homeless after their homes were destroyed in the genocidal war. The Strip is also suffering from severe famine due to Israel’s closure of crossings to humanitarian aid.
