Palestinian engineers struggle to repair Gaza’s water system, which has been contaminated, posing a health risk.

Under a winter sun in Gaza City, crowds of Palestinians clutching empty containers gather around water delivery trucks. For many neighbourhoods devastated by Israel’s ongoing genocidal war, these vehicles are now the only reliable source of drinking water.

The Israeli military offensive launched in October 2023 has decimated large sections of Gaza’s water infrastructure. Throughout the war, Israel repeatedly bombed water pipelines and other civilian infrastructure. As a result, pumping stations have ceased functioning, and the heavy machinery required for essential repairs lies in ruins.

At the Yassin water station in northern Gaza, once a lifeline for thousands of residents, the facility is now barely functioning.

Officials warn that the damage at this site alone has left tens of thousands without stable access to clean water, and the pace of repairs is crawling due to a severe Israeli blockade on equipment and spare parts.

Despite the October 2025 “ceasefire”, Israel has continued to attack Gaza, killing more than 700 Palestinians while maintaining curbs on the entry of aid and other goods into Gaza – home to 2.3 million people, most of whom remain displaced. Israel, which was expected to withdraw from Gaza after the truce, still occupies more than half of Gaza.

There is a wide range of goods that Israel has banned or heavily restricted from entering Gaza. This includes machinery, construction materials and even medical equipment.

Last month, Israel allowed the partial reopening of the Rafah crossing – currently Gaza’s only gateway to the outside world – allowing a limited number of Palestinians to leave and enter the enclave.

Scavenging for survival under blockade

The United Nations estimates that approximately 70 percent of Gaza City’s water supply infrastructure is currently disrupted. Municipal workers on the ground say the devastation is systemic and deliberate.

“The occupation has destroyed more than 72 water wells in Gaza City,” Hosny Afana, a municipality spokesman, told Al Jazeera. “Over 150,000 metres of water networks have been destroyed, along with four main reservoirs. The water system has been severely devastated.”

Efforts to restore the network are being actively hindered by Israeli military policies:

• Yellow Line barrier: Repairs to the crucial Mekorot water supply line have stalled because the infrastructure lies east of the so-called “Yellow Line”, which demarcates Gaza territory under Israeli military control.
• Dual-use ban: Israel classifies many basic components needed to repair water and sanitation systems as “dual-use” items. This allows Israeli authorities to systematically block their entry into the besieged enclave on vaguely defined security grounds.

Denied access to new materials, municipal maintenance teams are forced to work with whatever debris they can find in the rubble.

“These pipes, connectors, and fittings are essential for maintenance work,” said Tareq Shuhaibar, a maintenance engineer. “We are searching the outskirts of the city for whatever materials remain, recycling them for repairs.”

Growing health and environmental disaster

The lack of clean water is accelerating a severe public health crisis across the Strip. Doctors report a sharp rise in severe dehydration, kidney complications, and widespread water-borne diseases.

“Water contamination severely affects patients’ health,” Dr Ghazi al-Yazji, a physician at al-Shifa Hospital, told Al Jazeera. “It contains high levels of salts, nitrates, phosphorus and sulphur.”

This immediate medical emergency is rooted in a long-term environmental catastrophe.

A report by the United Nations Environment Programme has previously warned that the collapse of Gaza’s sewage treatment infrastructure and piped systems has likely caused severe contamination of the underground aquifer that supplies water to much of the enclave.

Furthermore, Palestinian officials have highlighted that Israel’s deliberate destruction of the water and sanitation networks has poisoned groundwater and coastal waters, compounding the devastating impacts of the genocidal campaign and leaving families to consume hazardous, polluted water because they have no other choice.

The crisis is being further compounded by the broader regional conflict. Two crossings – Karem Abu Salem (known as Kerem Shalom in Israel) and Rafah – are partially opened, with Rafah meant only for humanitarian cases. The Rafah crossing was shut following the US-Israel war on Iran, but has since been reopened.