Water Fact, July 14, 2025
“We are now so far below the emergency threshold for
water. It is in critical shortage now, and it is controlled
entirely by Israel. Since electricity to Gaza was cut after the
horrors of October 7, diesel became essential to treat and
distribute water, but there’s been a hundred-plus-day
blockade on fuel coming into Gaza. We’ve got to a point
where, if that doesn’t change or if the electricity isn’t turned
back on, which would solve a lot of problems, you’ll start to
see children dying of thirst. Water was something that really,
really struck me, because it’s absolutely political, not
logistical. If Israel allowed fuel or turned on the power for
these desalination plants, that problem would be solved…
The most lethal crisis isn’t just hunger or thirst - it’s the brutal
collision of both. And those deaths are often not recorded.”
James Elder, UNICEF’s global spokesperson, quoted in Isaac Chotiner, ’The War on Gaza’s Children,’ The New Yorker, July 7, 2025. On July 10, nearly a month after Elder’s visit,, the UN announced that Israel permitted it to deliver the first shipment of fuel to Gaza in 130 days. It was not enough to meet even a single day’s demand.
Nancy Murray