Body
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — In Gaza, residents said the struggle for water trucks has continued for months after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas stopped most fighting, with families in the Muwasi tent camp rationing water as supplies arrive. When a truck pulls into the neighborhood, Yehia Abu Daqqa said hundreds rush in and fights break out for access.
Abu Daqqa, sitting outside her tent in Muwasi as she fills dented plastic jerry cans marked with their family name, described how she parcels water for her children, pouring a small amount into a sippy cup for one daughter before distributing the rest. “The water truck arrives, and some 500 to 1,000 people throw themselves at it,” Abu Daqqa said. “They start fighting. It’s real suffering.”
Palestinians said shortages have endured for more than six months after the ceasefire, even as residents increasingly rely on delivered water because much of Gaza’s infrastructure is damaged. They pointed to the scale of destruction reported by the United Nations, which said nearly 90% of Gaza’s water infrastructure was destroyed, including desalination plants and sewage treatment facilities.
Before the war, government providers and private companies distributed water via trucks and underground pipes, and wastewater was routed to treatment facilities via underground pipes, Palestinians and aid workers said. The infrastructure is a priority in Gaza’s reconstruction plan, but progress has stalled as Israel has demanded Hamas completely disarm first, according to the Associated Press report.
The report described how the UN-led WASH Cluster estimated that 80% of people in Gaza rely on water delivered by trucks to central distribution points. Azmy Abu Lehya said his walk to the distribution point can be more than 500 meters (yards) through Muwasi, sometimes without getting enough water to carry home. “On two days, the water trucks come, and on the other two days, they don’t,” he said.
Other residents said bottled water was not an adequate substitute because many could not afford it, even as Israel said it no longer limited water imports. The AP report said Israel’s COGAT told the public it has not limited bottled water and said it helped ensure pipelines can bring in enough water for sanitation, sewage, drinking and washing. Palestinians and residents interviewed by the AP said bottles sold in markets remained prohibitively expensive, particularly when jobs and steady incomes are scarce after widespread destruction. Sharif Abu Helal said he does not even ask when he sees water bottles because of cost, adding, “I am not ready to buy each person a bottle of water,” and: “I have eight people. Is a gallon of water enough for them?”
The shortages have been part of a broader pattern during the war, the report said, as pipelines and wells were affected by strikes and damage to the water network, and spent munitions seeped into the aquifer used for wells. The AP report also said many items used to clean and transport water, including pipes, fuel, cement and chemicals such as chlorine, are among materials Israel considers “dual use” and restricts out of concern they could be repurposed for weapons or missiles.
In a report this week, Doctors Without Borders, known as MSF, accused Israel of using water as a weapon of war. MSF said Israel was “systemically depriving” people in what it called a “campaign of collective punishment,” according to the AP report, and said it reached that conclusion from interviews conducted in late 2025 after the October ceasefire. The group said shortages had far-reaching effects for Gaza’s 2.1 million people, including sewage overflows, sanitation failures and risks of waterborne and hygiene-related infections.
“Israeli authorities know that without water life ends, yet they have deliberately and systematically obliterated water infrastructure in Gaza, while consistently blocking water-related supplies from entering,” Claire San Filippo, MSF’s emergency manager, said, according to the report. MSF also said restrictions remained in place and pointed to a shortage of pipes available to create distribution networks, while calling on Israel to allow in materials used for water and sanitation.
COGAT, Israel’s military body that oversees humanitarian issues in Gaza, strenuously denied MSF’s allegations, calling them “a desperate attempt to regain legitimacy.” COGAT said Israel allows more than 70,000 cubic meters of water a day, and said humanitarian agencies estimate people need at least 15 liters daily for cleaning, washing, drinking and bathing.
Ezzidin reported from Cairo and Metz from Ramallah, West Bank.