The water crisis in the Gaza Strip is worsening as available quantities fall, distribution networks are damaged and wells and desalination plants struggle to operate. The latest data from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) show that about 82% of households face water insecurity, while about 70% of the population cannot access the minimum six litres per person per day needed for drinking and cooking.
In one displacement camp, the sound of a water lorry’s horn in the morning is enough to send residents out of their tents carrying waterskins and empty jerry cans. Everyone races to the lorry, which arrives once a day, amid fears that its load will run out before those waiting receive what they need.
Fatima Maarouf was among those standing in the queue under the sun, wearing prayer clothes and carrying two waterskins. After waiting for about half an hour, her turn came, only for the lorry owner to tell her: “You’re out of luck… the water’s gone.”
Rather than return to her tent, she continued searching on foot until she reached the Sardah water desalination plant in the Jabalia area, about 100 metres away, to secure what her family needed. Fatima has been a widow since November 2023, when her husband was killed during the second month of the war, leaving her with four children, the eldest aged eight.
Her daily search does not end with securing drinking water. She also waits for the well serving local residents to be switched on, then carries another jerry can to collect salty water for washing dishes and clothes, cleaning and meeting the rest of her tent’s needs.
Her daily task is therefore divided between finding safe drinking water and securing other water for the remaining uses. The two journeys take up the first hours of her day, amid limited supplies and repeated crowds at lorries, wells and desalination plants. In central Gaza, the elderly Musleh Yassin moves between distribution vehicles and desalination plants carrying two waterskins.
Yassin is looking for water for his two injured sons in hospital and for his grandson, whose family needs water to prepare milk, rather than for washing clothes or cleaning their living space. Yassin says he cannot afford to buy water, so he continues moving between desalination plants in search of enough for his family.
During his journey, he sees cars and lorries standing idle because of shortages of oil and operating supplies, reducing the quantities that can be transported and delivered to residents. Desalination plants and water lorries have become an essential part of daily life in the Strip after networks were damaged and supplies have had limited access to neighbourhoods and displacement camps.
Desalination output falls as operating supplies run short
However, Atef Odeh, head of the media committee of Gaza’s desalination plant association, says the plants’ production capacity has fallen to about 40% of their normal capacity because of shortages of operating supplies.
Odeh explains that the shortages include desalination filters, oil and essential spare parts, stressing that the plants provide drinking water to displacement camps, which rely heavily on them. He called for the necessary operating supplies to be brought in so the plants can continue producing water and transporting it to areas where displaced people are staying. Wells do not provide a stable alternative to desalination plants.
Resident Tareq al-Daqs says people in northern Gaza rely on a well operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), but it operates for limited periods and does not pump enough water. Others also rely on a well rehabilitated inside a mosque, which likewise needs fuel, oil and ongoing maintenance.
Number of functioning wells in Gaza City declines
The absence of water tanks in some households is making the crisis more difficult, amid shortages and high prices when tanks are available. As a result, residents have to fill jerry cans and carry them by hand to the upper floors of their homes, in addition to the time and effort needed to reach water sources and wait there. In Gaza City, only about 28 of the 75 wells that were operating before the war are currently functioning, according to municipal data.
Even the available wells operate at limited capacity and for only a few hours because of shortages of electricity and fuel. The main Safa wells, which used to supply a wide area of the city, have stopped operating after becoming part of what is known as the Yellow Line area. The city currently relies on two main sources: Israel’s Mekorot water line and the 28 rehabilitated wells.
Available water amounts to no more than 30% of the quantity available before the war, when daily supplies stood at about 100,000 cubic metres. The problem is not limited to production: about 150,000 linear metres of water networks have been destroyed, restricting the delivery of available quantities to residents even when water is present at its sources.
In some neighbourhoods, water arrives only once or twice a week and for limited hours, while other areas rely on unofficial networks or water lorries. The crisis is also affecting the aquifer, which is facing increasing pressure as other sources decline and reliance on wells grows.
Aquifer faces mounting pressure and pollution risks
The utility says increased pumping from wells, particularly in western areas and where displaced people are concentrated, coincides with weak natural recharge of the aquifer and irregular supplementary water sources. Most groundwater in the Strip is also highly saline or unfit for direct drinking. The aquifer is under additional pressure because the sewage system has been damaged and treatment plants are out of service, leading to untreated wastewater being discharged into the environment.
The utility estimates that more than 40,000 cubic metres of untreated wastewater are discharged into the sea each day, while a further 10,000 cubic metres seep into the soil through soakaway pits. Water seeping through these pits may reach the groundwater reserves, increasing the risk of biological contamination.
This comes as residents rely heavily on wells, linking the shortage of available water to concerns over its quality and safety for use. Following repairs carried out in recent months, average water availability per person for all uses rose to about 28 litres a day, after falling to less than five litres at the start of the war, according to the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility.
Even so, the current average remains well below the pre-war level of about 85 litres per person per day. The estimated quantity does not mean that every person actually receives that amount, because of extensive network damage, losses during transport and distribution, and difficulties reaching some areas.
Water supplies vary across the Strip
The utility’s data for mid-September also show clear geographical differences in the average quantities reaching residents. The average per-person supply is about 40 litres a day in northern Gaza, compared with 23 litres in Gaza City, 34 litres in the central area and Deir al-Balah, and 25 litres in Khan Younis and north-western Rafah.
These figures cover all uses and are not limited to drinking and cooking water. The utility warns that continued pumping from wells, alongside weak natural recharge of the aquifer, could lower groundwater levels and increase salinity. The risks also include a greater likelihood of seawater intrusion into the coastal aquifer, higher concentrations of some pollutants and continued deterioration in water quality.
The utility says the aquifer cannot remain an unlimited source of water, because continuing to pump at current rates while recharge remains weak will lead to further deterioration. It calls for alternative sources, primarily large-scale desalination plants, as well as the rehabilitation of damaged wells and water networks.
Restoring the water system requires, according to the utility, an integrated package of measures including the provision of energy, fuel and spare parts, repairs to transport and distribution networks, well rehabilitation and support for desalination plants. The needs also include restarting wastewater treatment and pumping stations to protect water sources and reduce losses and pollution risks.
