Human Rights Watch / December 19, 2024
Authorities’ widespread deprivation of water threatens survival.
Israeli authorities have deliberately inflicted conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the population in Gaza by intentionally depriving Palestinian civilians there of adequate access to water, most likely resulting in thousands of deaths.
- In doing so, Israeli authorities are responsible for the crime against humanity of extermination and for acts of genocide. The pattern of conduct, coupled with statements suggesting that some Israeli officials wished to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, may amount to the crime of genocide.
- Governments and international organizations should take all measures to prevent genocide in Gaza, including discontinuing military assistance, reviewing bilateral agreements and diplomatic relations, and supporting the International Criminal Court and other accountability efforts.
Jerusalem – Israeli authorities have intentionally deprived Palestinian civilians in Gaza of adequate access to water since October 2023, most likely resulting in thousands of deaths and thus committing the crime against humanity of extermination and acts of genocide, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
In the 179-page report, “Extermination and Acts of Genocide: Israel Deliberately Depriving Palestinians in Gaza of Water,” Human Rights Watch found that Israeli authorities have intentionally deprived Palestinians in Gaza of access to safe water for drinking and sanitation needed for basic human survival. Israeli authorities and forces cut off and later restricted piped water to Gaza; rendered most of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure useless by cutting electricity and restricting fuel; deliberately destroyed and damaged water and sanitation infrastructure and water repair materials; and blocked the entry of critical water supplies.
“Water is essential for human life, yet for over a year the Israeli government has deliberately denied Palestinians in Gaza the bare minimum they need to survive,” said Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch. “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.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed 66 Palestinians from Gaza, 4 employees of Gaza’s Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU), 31 healthcare professionals, and 15 people working with United Nations agencies and international aid organizations in Gaza. Human Rights Watch also analysed satellite imagery, photographs, and videos captured between the beginning of the hostilities in October 2023 and September 2024, as well as data collected and estimates produced by doctors, epidemiologists, humanitarian aid organizations, and water and sanitation experts.
Human Rights Watch concluded that Israeli authorities have intentionally created conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza in whole or in part. This policy, inflicted as part of a mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, means Israeli authorities have committed the crime against humanity of extermination, which is ongoing. This policy also amounts to one of the five “acts of genocide” under the Genocide Convention of 1948. Genocidal intent may also be inferred from this policy, coupled with statements suggesting some Israeli officials wished to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, and therefore the policy may amount to the crime of genocide.
Immediately after the attacks in southern Israel by Hamas-led Palestinian armed groups in Gaza on October 7, 2023, which Human Rights Watch has found amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity, Israeli authorities cut all electricity and fuel to the Gaza Strip. On October 9, then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a “complete siege” of Gaza, stating: “There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel, everything is closed.”
That same day, and for weeks thereafter, Israeli authorities cut off all water and blocked fuel, food, and humanitarian aid from entering the strip. Israeli authorities continue to restrict the entry of water, fuel, food, and aid into Gaza and to cut Gaza’s electricity, which is required to operate life-sustaining infrastructure. This continued even after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued provisional measures in January, March, and May 2024 ordering Israeli authorities to protect Palestinians in Gaza from genocide and, in so doing, provide humanitarian aid, specifying in March that this includes water, food, electricity, and fuel.
Israeli authorities have also barred nearly all water-related aid from entering Gaza, including water filtration systems, water tanks, and materials needed to repair water infrastructure.
Between October 2023 and August 2024, the Gaza Coastal Municipalities Water Utility, the UN, and other sources reported that people in Gaza did not have access to the minimum amount of water needed for survival in long-term emergency situations. In northern Gaza, the UN reported that people did not have access to potable water for over five months, between November 2023 and April 2024. While a study of water access in August showed that people’s access to water had increased, most people still did not have adequate water needed for drinking and cooking.
Human Rights Watch found that Israeli forces have deliberately attacked and damaged or destroyed several major water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities. In several cases, Human Rights Watch found evidence that Israeli ground forces were in control of the areas at the time, indicating that the destruction was deliberate.
Satellite imagery comparison between October 15, 2023 and January 20, 2024 shows the progressive destruction of the Central Gaza wastewater treatment plant. Solar panels were first damaged in early October 2023 before being destroyed in November. As of January 20, 2024, one of the main buildings was completely destroyed and several areas of the plant appear to have been razed by bulldozers.
The decimation of Gaza’s healthcare system, including healthcare tracking, has meant that confirmed cases of disease, illnesses, and deaths possibly linked to water-borne disease, dehydration, and starvation are not being systematically tracked or reported. However, based on interviews with healthcare professionals and epidemiologists, it is likely that thousands of people have died as a result of the Israeli authorities’ actions. The deaths are in addition to the more than 44,000 people directly killed in the hostilities, as recorded by Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Hundreds of thousands of people have also contracted diseases and health conditions to which the lack of access to safe and sufficient water has likely caused or contributed, including diarrhoea, hepatitis A, skin diseases, and upper respiratory infections. Water deprivation is particularly harmful to infants, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and people with disabilities.
The crime of genocide requires committing acts of genocide with genocidal intent. The ICJ has said that to infer such intent from a pattern of conduct by the state, it needs to be “the only reasonable inference to be drawn” from the acts in question. Human Rights Watch’s findings, and statements from Israeli officials suggesting that they wished to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza, may indicate such intent.
Human Rights Watch also found that some statements from senior Israeli officials calling for cutting water, fuel, and aid, in tandem with their actions, have amounted to direct and public incitement to genocide.
The Israeli government’s continuing blockade of Gaza, as well as its more than 17-year closure of the strip, also amounts to collective punishment of the civilian population, a war crime. The closure also constitutes part of the continuing crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution that Israeli authorities have been committing against Palestinians.
Several governments have undermined accountability efforts and continue to provide the Israeli government with arms despite the clear risk of complicity in serious violations of international humanitarian law.
“Governments should not contribute to the grave crimes that Israeli officials are committing in Gaza, including crimes against humanity and genocidal acts, and should take all steps possible to prevent further harm,” Hassan said. “Governments arming Israel should end their risk of complicity in atrocity crimes in Gaza and take immediate action to protect civilians with an arms embargo, targeted sanctions, and support for justice.”
