Israeli armed forces and settlers have attacked Palestinian water sources more than 250 times in the past five years, amounting to the most sustained assault on civilian water supplies in recent years, new research reveals.
Bombs, dogs, poison and heavy machinery were among the weapons used to attack Palestinians and their infrastructure at drinking water, irrigation and sanitation sites in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip on at least 90 occasions between January 2024 and mid-2025, according to the Pacific Institute, a California-based nonpartisan thinktank tracking water conflicts.
In February 2024, Israeli snipers killed eight Palestinians collecting water near Naser hospital in Gaza, while in April Israeli airstrikes on two schools in Gaza City killed and injured 100 people, and destroyed five mobile latrines and a solar-powered desalination unit that were installed in October 2024 as part of an EU-funded project.
An estimated 90% of water and sanitation facilities in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or damaged by direct attacks as military targets, or are inaccessible to Palestinians as they are located in areas blocked by the Israeli army. These actions have contributed to a public health catastrophe, according to Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation.
