Doctors Without Borders accuses Israel of ‘using water as weapon’ in Gaza; Jerusalem says that’s ‘factually incorrect’

The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) nonprofit accuses Israel of “systemically depriving” people in Gaza of water in what it calls a “campaign of collective punishment” against Palestinians.

The COGAT agency of the Defense Ministry rejects the claim, stating that the water supply for the territory exceeds humanitarian thresholds. It publishes the total amount of water supplied to Gaza daily through four water pipelines and the desalination capacity in Gaza.

In its new report, MSF accuses Israel of having “destroyed or damaged nearly 90%” of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure, including desalination plants, boreholes, pipelines and sewage systems, and alleges that these actions are “an integral part of Israel’s genocide” against Gazans.

“Israeli authorities know that without water life ends, yet they have deliberately and systematically obliterated water infrastructure in Gaza, whilst consistently blocking water-related supplies from entering,” argues Claire San Filippo, MSF emergency manager.

COGAT points out in rebuttal that at present, three water pipelines from Israel to Gaza supply between 30,000 and 32,000 cubic meters of water to Gaza per day; a pipeline from Egypt to Gaza provides another 5,000 cubic meters; and desalination capacity in Gaza provides another 18,400 cubic meters of water, totaling 55,400 cubic meters of water per day.

The agency says further that water from local wells in Gaza brings the total water supply in the territory up to “well over” 70,000 cubic meters per day.

The World Health Organization says that between 50 and 100 liters of water are needed per capita each day to ensure that basic needs are met, including water for cleaning homes and washing clothes. The organization notes, however, that 15 liters of water per person per day could suffice in emergencies.

The 70,000 cubic meters of water available daily in Gaza, according to COGAT’s numbers, amounts to around 33 liters of water per day per person, based on Gaza’s population of approximately 2.1 million people.

“Water supply in Gaza consistently exceeds humanitarian thresholds, as we constantly prove,” says COGAT.

“Far from ‘preventing’ access, Israel facilitates and provides water from its own sources,” the agency adds.