GAZA,(Palestine Foundation Information Center) The National Assembly of Palestinian Tribes, Clans, and Families issued an urgent appeal on Thursday, calling on the international community to intervene immediately to halt a deepening water catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, which threatens the lives of more than two million Palestinians as water and sanitation systems collapse under the weight of Israel’s ongoing genocide and blockade.
In its statement, the Assembly said Gaza residents are suffering from a near-total lack of drinking water due to the systematic destruction of infrastructure, the shutdown of major desalination plants in Gaza City and Deir al-Balah, and the suspension of pumping from the Israeli water company Mekorot. Fuel shortages and ongoing power cuts have rendered most water systems inoperable.
“The majority of water wells in Gaza are now out of service due to Israeli airstrikes and widespread devastation,” the statement said. “This has dramatically worsened the humanitarian crisis, particularly in western Gaza, where nearly two million displaced people are crowded into crumbling shelters.”
The Assembly called on the United Nations, UNICEF, and all international humanitarian organizations to act immediately by delivering fuel, water, and the necessary equipment to restart desalination plants and water wells. It warned that ongoing inaction amounts to “tacit complicity” in the policies of starvation, thirst, and mass ethnic cleansing being carried out by the Israeli occupation army.
The Assembly placed full responsibility for the disaster on Israel and demanded bringing it to account for repeated violations of international humanitarian law.
Gaza’s municipalities confirmed the severity of the crisis, stating that the average per capita water availability has dropped below five liters per day, barely enough for drinking, cooking, and minimal hygiene. Current operating wells meet less than 12% of the population’s daily water needs.
The disaster is further intensified by electricity cuts and fuel shortages, which have shut down Gaza’s desalination plants, destroyed water pumping systems, and turned sewage into open rivers flooding residential neighborhoods.
Earlier this week, Gaza’s Government Media Office reported that two million Palestinians are now confined to just 12% of the Strip’s area, cut off from food, clean water, and basic medical care. Hospitals are collapsing under the relentless pressure of casualties, compounded by critical shortages in fuel, medicine, and essential supplies.
