Israeli denial of water to Palestinians in Gaza tantamount to act of genocide, report says
Israel’s “calculated policy” of depriving Palestinians of water makes it responsible for acts of genocide, a new Human Rights Watch report has concluded.
The report, which was released Thursday, found that Israeli authorities have intentionally deprived Palestinians in Gaza of access to safe water since October 2023.
As a result, there have been “thousands of deaths” from dehydration and disease among Palestinians trapped in the besieged territory.
The policy, which has involved cutting off and later restricting piped water to the enclave, targeting water and sanitation infrastructure and blocking the entry of critical water supplies to the strip, is tantamount to the crime against humanity of extermination and the crime of genocide, the report concluded.
It added that statements from senior Israeli officials calling for cutting water “have amounted to “direct and public incitement to genocide”.
“This isn’t just negligence; it is a calculated policy of deprivation that has led to the deaths of thousands from dehydration and disease that is nothing short of the crime against humanity of extermination, and an act of genocide," said Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch.
The report is based on interviews with Palestinians in Gaza, Gaza Coastal Municipalities Water Utility employees, healthcare professionals and UN agency and NGO workers in Gaza.
It also uses satellite imagery, photographs and videos and data collected by doctors, epidemiologists, humanitarian aid organisations, and water and sanitation experts.
'Minimum amount'
Citing the Gaza Coastal Municipalities Water Utility and the UN, the report said that between October 2023 and August 2024, “people in Gaza did not have access to the minimum amount of water needed for survival in long-term emergency situations”.
The UN additionally reported that in northern Gaza people did not have access to potable water for over five months, between November 2023 and April 2024.
While the report noted that, due to the decimation of Gaza’s healthcare system, cases of deaths linked to water-borne diseases and dehydration are not being systematically reported.
It concluded, based on interviews with healthcare professionals, that “it is likely that thousands of people have died as a result of the Israeli authorities’ actions”.
The report added that these deaths are in addition to the death toll of more than 45,000 people killed by Israeli forces.