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Available Water Supply Falls Below 25% of Minimum Requirement
Gaza Municipality: A Severe Water Crisis Is Looming Immediate Action Is Urgently Needed

As temperatures rise and the demand for water increases among both residents and displaced persons, Gaza City is experiencing catastrophic conditions. Since October 2023, approximately 75% of its water wells have been destroyed by Israeli forces. The remaining wells operate under severe limitations due to a lack of fuel, while the supply of Mekorot water has become increasingly intermittent. This has resulted in a major water crisis that threatens to trigger serious public health and environmental disasters. Gaza Municipality urgently calls on international organizations to provide the necessary resources, fuel, and support to rehabilitate and operate damaged facilities and restore water access for the population.

Critically Limited Supply
Gaza Municipality confirms that the current available water supply does not exceed 35,000 cubic meters per day down from 120,000 cubic meters supplied daily during this period before the aggression. This volume is drastically lower than the city’s actual needs. The available water is distributed as follows: approximately 20,000 cubic meters from Mekorot and 15,000 cubic meters from municipal wells, which operate only a few hours per day due to acute shortages of fuel and electricity. Small quantities are also contributed by private wells.

These limited supplies do not reach all areas of the city, largely because ongoing military operations prevent technical teams from safely accessing key distribution and maintenance points. Additionally, vast areas of the city are entirely without water sources due to the destruction of infrastructure and widespread damage to water networks.

Major Challenges
The Municipality reports that the main challenges facing the water sector include the destruction of 63 wells, 115,000 linear meters of pipelines, four major reservoirs, and the central desalination plant in northwest Gaza, which previously produced around 10,000 cubic meters of water daily. The continued lack of fuel and electricity to operate these facilities remains a major obstacle to providing water to the population.

The full shutdown of the northern Gaza desalination plant has eliminated the city’s capacity to produce desalinated water. As a result, most residents are forced to rely on unsafe water sources or on private filling stations, the costs of which are unaffordable for many.

Displacement Has Increased the Burden
Gaza Municipality also notes that the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people from northern Gaza and eastern areas of the city to central and western parts has significantly increased water demand, putting enormous pressure on the already strained water networks and deepening the crisis. This situation has placed a heavy burden on the Municipality.

As part of a long-term response, the Municipality has developed a water sector plan covering the period from 2025 to 2050. The plan begins with an emergency relief phase aimed at restoring the minimum level of essential services. It includes restarting non-operational wells, repairing water and sewage networks, and securing the necessary fuel and critical equipment to maintain service delivery.

Sharp Decline in Per Capita Access
Gaza's water crisis has evolved into a genuine existential threat. The daily per capita water share has fallen to between 3 and 12 liters during the war far below the internationally recommended minimum of 100 liters per day. In some displacement centers, individuals receive as little as 1.5 liters per day, which is not even sufficient for drinking.

Due to the dire situation, international institutions have set an emergency minimum consumption standard of 15 liters of water per person per day in the Gaza Strip.

Urgent Needs
Gaza Municipality appeals to the international community and humanitarian organizations for an immediate response to help mitigate the scale of the ongoing humanitarian disaster and assist the Municipality in securing the minimum required water supply for the population.

The Municipality emphasizes that meeting these urgent needs requires the provision of pipes, spare parts for well maintenance, operational equipment, fuel, energy devices, large water tanks, and the rehabilitation of destroyed desalination plants.

To view the full needs document in Arabic and English, please click the attached link: