'Thirst War': A Parallel Battle Gazans Fight Without Weapons

Gaza is grappling with an acute water shortage as Israel tightens its blockade, closing border crossings, halting fuel supplies, and cutting off two main water lines since early January—around two weeks before a ceasefire took effect on the 19th of the same month.
'For six days, no water has reached us—not from the municipality nor from the wells dug in the area, as there's no fuel to power the generators,' said 57-year-old Mohammed al-Uraini, a resident of al-Shati refugee camp in western Gaza City, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat.
Even before the war, Gaza was already facing a severe water crisis due to the long-standing Israeli blockade. In 2019, UNICEF estimated that only 1 in 10 residents had direct access to safe drinking water. At the time, Gaza's population was 1.8 million; it has since surpassed two million.
Fuel Shortages
UNICEF warned in a statement last Saturday that the average daily water supply for one million people in Gaza—including 400,000 children—has dropped from 16 liters per person to just 6. The agency warned that if fuel runs out in the coming weeks, that figure could fall to below 4 liters, forcing families to rely on unsafe water sources and raising the risk of disease outbreaks, especially among children.
The United Nations defines the minimum daily requirement for personal and household water use as 50–100 liters per person.
Tamer Al-Nahal, 61, owns a water well that used to supply more than 50 neighboring homes in al-Shati. He told Asharq Al-Awsat he can no longer afford the 10 liters of fuel required to operate the well. 'Each liter used to cost about 20 shekels ($6), but now it's around 70 shekels ($19),' he said. Occasionally, local institutions would donate fuel to power generators, but these contributions have stopped due to rising costs.
Many Gaza families are now forced to carry water in plastic jugs for distances up to 500 meters just to find water fit for human use.
Long Queues and Rising Hardship
Ezzedine Abu Hammam, 24, from Gaza's western port area, said he spends more than an hour daily in a long queue to collect around 50 liters of drinking water, which he then carries up to the fourth-floor apartment where his 13-member family lives.
'It's exhausting to wait that long just for a small amount of water, and then carry it upstairs,' he said. 'Even when municipal water was available, it was so salty it tasted like seawater, but at least it eased the burden.'
According to Gaza's Health Ministry, the water crisis is exacerbating public health risks, increasing the spread of diarrhea and skin diseases. The ministry reported 52 child deaths linked to these conditions, including malnutrition.
'Worsening the Crisis'
Assem al-Nabeeh, spokesperson for the Gaza Municipality, said the city—like the rest of the Strip—is facing a severe thirst crisis due to renewed Israeli military operations and incursions into some areas.
He explained to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Israeli-run 'Mekorot' water line, which supplied nearly 70% of Gaza City's needs, was shut down last Thursday. As a result, the city and other municipalities have lost access to groundwater wells, which were previously powered using fuel.
'Some alternative water sources have also been destroyed by airstrikes or ground operations,' he added, citing the complete destruction of wells in Gaza City's al-Zaytoun neighborhood as a deliberate move to deepen the humanitarian crisis.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Saudi Gazette

4 days ago

• Saudi Gazette

As Iran-Israel conflict escalates, Gazans fear their suffering will become invisible

GAZA — The young girl sits on the dusty floor, clutching her father's shoe close to her chest as she cries and screams in anger. Bisan Qwaider is inconsolable. Her father has just been killed while trying to get food for her and her 10 hungry siblings. Khaled Sha'ath, the photojournalist who captured the scene of Qwaider's grief on Sunday, told CNN that Bisan's father, Shadi, had left the family's tent in Mawassi, in southern Gaza, a few days earlier for Ma'an, just east of Khan Younis. Shadi knew travel to the area was dangerous: Ma'an had been under an Israeli evacuation order for some time and has come under Israeli bombardment. But, despite the risk, his children were hungry and he believed he could get some food there for them. Gaza is facing a hunger crisis. A UN-backed report published in late April warned that one in five people in Gaza were facing starvation and that the entire enclave was edging closer to famine. The situation has only worsened since then, according to the UN. Sha'ath said Qwaider was killed in an airstrike and his body was pulled from the rubble on Sunday. He is one of hundreds of people who have died while attempting to find food in Gaza in recent weeks, according to Gaza health authorities. CNN has asked the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) about the situation in Ma'an. The IDF responded by sending CNN a map of Gaza with 'dangerous combat zones' highlighted in red, which included Ma'an – as well as more than half of the territory. In late May, Israel partially lifted an 11-week total blockade on Gaza, but humanitarian organizations say the aid entering now is only a tiny fraction of what is needed. 'Without immediate and massively scaled-up access to the basic means of survival, we risk a descent into famine, further chaos, and the loss of more lives,' the UN's humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said last week. The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has sparked outrage around the world, recently prompting even some of Israel's closest allies to speak up. France, the United Kingdom and Canada issued a rare statement last month criticizing Israel and threatening 'concrete steps' if the situation in Gaza does not improve. The UK paused trade negotiations with Israel and sanctioned West Bank settlers last month, and the European Union said it would review a key cooperation agreement with Israel. But as tensions continue to escalate between Israel and Iran, people in Gaza are now worried that even the limited pressure on Israel over their suffering will quickly evaporate. 'The war between Israel and Iran made people forget about us completely. No one is looking at us, there's no food or water or anything. Every day, people go to try to get food and aid, and they end up being carried in body bags,' Mohammad, a Gazan who did not want to share his last name, told CNN on Monday. Umm Mustafa, another Gazan, told CNN the growing conflict between Iran and Israel means that their suffering has disappeared from the international news agenda. 'All the (focus) has shifted to the Israeli-Iranian war, even though the Gaza Strip has been wiped off of the map,' Mustafa said. Abu Juma'a, who lives in Gaza City, told CNN that while there were 'some voices calling and standing in solidarity with Gaza and calling for humanitarian aid to be let in, the Israeli-Iranian war meant there is no one calling for the food and water to be provided in Gaza.' More than 55,300 people have been killed and more than 128,700 injured in Gaza since October 7, 2023, according to health authorities there. The numbers are staggering: The death toll represents some 2.5% of the entire Gaza population, meaning that out of every 40 Palestinians living in Gaza before the war, one is now dead. A peer-reviewed study published earlier this year in The Lancet journal, said that the number of people killed in Gaza is significantly higher than the figure reported by authorities in the enclave. CNN cannot independently verify those claims and Israel has barred international journalists from traveling to Gaza independently since October 7. And the deadly hunger crisis is worsening. The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Monday that people are struggling to access basic goods because of Israeli restrictions on what can be brought into the territory. Meanwhile, a US and Israeli-backed aid initiative, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) - a controversial organization that was established amid Israeli accusations that Hamas is stealing aid in Gaza and profiting off its sale – is struggling to fulfill the task. The organization has been criticized by multiple international aid agencies that it isn't fit for purpose. According to Gaza health authorities, at least 300 people have been killed since the GHF opened its distribution points in late May, which are located in areas surrounded by active combat zones. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said last week that Israeli authorities have allowed only a select number of UN agencies and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to resume the delivery of aid into Gaza after partially lifting the blockade and that 'only very limited amounts of certain food items, nutrition supplies, some health supplies, and water purification items' are allowed. Other aid supplies, such as shelter materials, hygiene products and medical equipment are still being blocked by Israel, according to OCHA. 'People can't find anything to eat or drink. The price of a bag of flour is now 300 to 500 times more expensive than before ... it does feel like the world has forgotten us,' another Gaza resident, Abu Mohammed, told CNN. For young Bisan Qwaider, the only thing from her father she could get a hold of was his shoe. As she screamed for her father, she looked to the sky and shouted a message for those she believed were responsible for his death. 'May God hold you accountable,' she said. — CNN

Arab News

11-06-2025

• Arab News

Child labor ‘may continue for centuries at current pace'

NEW YORK: Nearly 138 million children were still working in the world's fields and factories in 2024, the UN said on Wednesday, warning that given the slow pace of progress, eliminating child labor could be delayed by 'hundreds of years.' Ten years ago, upon adopting the so-called Sustainable Development Goals, the world's countries set themselves the ambitious target of putting an end to child labor by 2025. 'That timeline has now come to an end. But child labor has not,' UNICEF and the International Labor Organization said in a joint report. Last year, according to data published every four years, 137.6 million children aged 5-17 were working, or around 7.8 percent of all children in that age group. The figure is equivalent to twice the total population of France. Last year, 137.6 million children aged 5-17 were working, or around 7.8 percent of all children in that age group. The figure is equivalent to twice the total population of France. This nevertheless represents a drop since 2000, when 246 million children were forced to work, often to help their impoverished families. After a worrying rise between 2016 and 2020, the trend has now reversed, with 20 million fewer children working in 2024 than four years prior. 'Significant progress' has been recorded in reducing the number of children forced into labor, UNICEF chief Catherine Russell said. 'Yet far too many children continue to toil in mines, factories, or fields, often doing hazardous work to survive.' According to the report, nearly 40 percent of the 138 million child laborers were employed in 2024 doing particularly hazardous work 'likely to jeopardize their health, safety, or development.' Despite some rays of hope, 'we must not be blindsided by the fact that we still have a long way to go before we achieve our goal of eliminating child labor,' ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo said. At the current rate of reduction, 'it will take hundreds of years,' said UNICEF expert Claudia Cappa. Even if countries quadruple the pace of progress recorded since 2000, 'we will already be in 2060,' she added. Progress for the youngest children is particularly slow, the report found. Last year, nearly 80 million children aged five to 11 were working — about 8.2 percent of all children in that age group. And yet the societal elements that reduce child labor are well-known, according to Cappa. One of the main factors, free compulsory education, not only helps minors escape child labor, but also protects children from vulnerable or indecent conditions of employment when they grow up, she said. Another, she added, is 'universalizing social protection' as a way to offset or ease burdens on families and vulnerable communities. But global funding cuts 'threaten to roll back hard-earned gains,' UNICEF's Russell said. According to the report, agriculture is the sector making the most use of child labor (61 percent of all cases), followed by domestic work and other services (27 percent) and industry (13 percent, including mining and manufacturing). Sub-Saharan Africa remains the hardest hit, with around 87 million child laborers. Asia-Pacific has seen the greatest progress, with the number of working children falling from 49 million in 2000 to 28 million in 2024.

Leaders

07-06-2025

• Leaders

Gaza Marks Eid Al-Adha with Looming Famine, Rising Violence

Eid Al-Adha is marked by prayers, joyful celebrations, feasts and charity. However, the people of Gaza are observing Eid amid dire humanitarian conditions and a rise in violence. Eid Al-Adha holiday began with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) announcing it would temporarily close its doors amid severe food shortages and Israeli military continuing its operation in Gaza, according to Reuters. GHF Operations Paused As Gaza's population is facing severe food shortages that put the Strip on the brink of famine, the GHF said it would suspend its work because overcrowding had made its operations 'unsafe.' On Friday, the GHF sent contradicting messages as it announced the closure of its distribution hubs in southern Gaza. Later, it said it had delivered food, before saying it had shut its doors as a precautionary measure. 'The distribution was conducted peacefully and without incident; however, it was paused due to excessive crowding that made it unsafe to proceed,' the organization said in a statement. Shooting Incidents Several shooting incidents took place in the vicinity of the GHF's operations, where the Israeli military opened fire at Palestinians while they were trying to reach the aid distribution site in southern Gaza. Early Tuesday, June 3, 2025, the Israeli military killed at least 27 people, including two women and three children, and injured others while they were heading to the GHF's aid distribution site. Similarly, on Monday morning, Israeli troops killed three Palestinians and injured dozens while they were on their way to the GHF aid distribution site in Rafah. The Israeli military also killed 31 and injured dozens of Palestinians in the same area on Sunday. According to local health authorities, more than 80 Palestinians had been killed and hundreds injured near aid distribution sites from June 1-3, 2025. GHF Distribution Mechanism The GHF is an Israeli and US-backed organization that aims to set a new mechanism for aid delivery in Gaza. This involves establishing a number of distribution sites in southern and central Gaza, where Palestinian civilians will head once a week to receive one aid package per family. The GHF cooperates with private American contractors to secure aid trucks until their arrival at the distribution sites. However, the organization has faced sharp criticism as the UN and other humanitarian organization refused to cooperate with it, accusing it of serving Israel's military objectives which include displacing Palestinians. Famine Warnings On March 2, 2025, Israel imposed a total blockade on aid entry into Gaza to ramp up pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages. Under growing international pressure, Israel in mid-May allowed limited aid delivery to resume under UN supervision. However, UN officials denounced the Israeli restrictions that obstruct the distribution of the much-needed aid and have made the situation in Gaza 'catastrophic.' On Thursday, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that the people of Gaza are expected to experience acute food insecurity by September, with around 500,000 people facing extreme food deprivation, leading to malnutrition and starvation. 'This means the risk of famine is really touching the whole of the Gaza Strip,' the director of the FAO office of emergencies and resilience, Rein Paulson, said in an interview, as quoted by the Associated Press (AP). Israeli Strikes In a separate development, Israeli strikes continued on the Gaza Strip, claiming the lives of 16 Palestinians in northern Gaza, according to local health authorities. The residents of Gaza said they had to hold Eid Al-Adha prayers amid rubble, under the Israeli bombing and shelling. The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders on Friday for areas in and around Gaza City, warning of imminent intensive operations in response to rockets fired at Israel from the area, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, the Israeli military announced that four of its soldiers were killed in a booby-trapped building in Khan Younis, bringing the army death toll to 8 since the start of June. Short link : Post Views: 1