Fresh Air

Water is life.

Access to clean water is essential, not just for drinking, but for basic hygiene. This is even more true in any war zone when one of the biggest dangers is the potential outbreak of diseases, such as cholera and dysentery.

One of the many libels hurled against Israel since Hamas started the current war on October 7 is the claim that Israel has weaponised water by deliberately denying its supply to Gazans.

This is a falsehood that doesn’t stand up to basic scrutiny.

The reality is that since the early days of the war, Israeli authorities have approved and facilitated a range of projects and initiatives to ensure Gazans have access to water.

Unfortunately, the mainstream media has largely relied on information provided by Hamas and humanitarian and aid organisations, many of them staffed by employees with anti-Israel track records.

Source of the water libel

The origin of the claim that Israel has weaponised water arises from comments made by some Israeli leaders, who were understandably emotional in the immediate aftermath of October 7, when Hamas terrorists rampaged through southern Israel killing 1,200 Israelis – the worst mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust – and kidnapped hundreds more back into Gaza.

This included then-Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz’s threat on October 9 to cut Gaza off from the water supplied by Israel.

But what was missing in most of the reporting was the basic fact that for decades, as per the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement signed in 1995, Israel has only supplied 10 per cent of water used by Gazans.

In the end this particular water source was only cut off for a few days. Israel resumed supply on October 15.

The truth about Gaza and water since October 7  

The small amount of water supplied by Israel to Gaza has been supplemented during the war by other sources.

Statistics from the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Office (COGAT) – the Israel Defence Forces department responsible for inspecting and transferring aid into Gaza via Israel – belie the claim Israel has prevented Gazans having access to water.

According to COGAT, 40,035 tons of clean water has been transported in trucks into Gaza since October 7.

Even the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) – which has numerous ties to Hamas, including employees who were directly involved in the October 7 terror attacks – reported that “water wells in Jabalia, Khan Younis and Rafah are functional… desalination plants continue to operate in the shelters for provision of drinkable water” and that “water trucking operations to the shelters in Rafah and Khan Younis areas also continue.”

A recent media report quoted Israeli and Western officials off the record about a plan for Israel to directly supply electricity to the Strip’s water desalination plant that has the potential to dramatically scale up the water supply to Gaza. While no official announcement has yet been made, once back online, the plant will service the water needs of one million Gazans living in Khan Yunis, Deir al-Balah and Mawasi

The proposal builds on the significant work and cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian groups in Gaza who worked to repair the northern pumping facility in Israel, near Nahal Oz, which was damaged on October 7. It’s believed that at least two of Israel’s pipelines were damaged during the first few days of the war due to Hamas shelling and by tanks.

Hamas steals water

Unfortunately, water is yet one more vital item among the vast quantities of humanitarian aid intended for the benefit of ordinary Gazans that Hamas has stolen.

In fact, some reports estimate the amount of donated aid stolen by Hamas as high as 70 per cent.

In an April 4 interview, Palestinian Activist Ramzi Awda accused armed Hamas militia of hijacking aid trucks, saying: “Even the international organisations admit this. Most of the aid is being stolen – over 60 per cent or 70 per cent of the aid goes to the warehouses of some movements, some factions, some tribes… Hamas. They resell the products to the people at exorbitant prices.”

Meanwhile, in late April, a newsreader on a TV channel run by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party, accused Hamas of deliberately killing aid workers in Gaza, stealing food and water and manufacturing a food crisis there.

Who’s responsible for supplying water to Gaza? Not Israel

One of the more pernicious claims intended to delegitimise Israel’s defensive war against Hamas has been the claim that Israel has a legal responsibility to supply food and water to Gazans, even during wartime.

This is not true.

Under international law, during war, parties to that war are not obliged to supply their enemy – such as Hamas – with support, either directly or indirectly. In fact, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 – which was passed urgently following the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001 – states that all nations “shall refrain from providing any form of support, active or passive, to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts.”

It also reaffirms “the need to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.” Furthermore, legal scholar Avi Bell has stated that warring parties are not required to provide humanitarian supplies. Israel, like all other states, is only required to ensure the passage of humanitarian aid.

Gazan water sources

“Why don’t Gazans have access to clean water?” is a question not sufficiently asked since October 7.

To appreciate the challenge of supplying Gaza with clean water, it is necessary to understand where the supply comes from. Unfortunately, water quality has suffered greatly under three decades of Palestinian self-rule – both in Gaza and in the West Bank.

Back in 2016, World Bank senior water and sanitation specialist Adnan Ghosheh confirmed that the water contamination and supply issues were a result of years of poor water management first by the Palestinian Authority and then Hamas.

“There are things the PA can do – like, for example, efficiency. Before Israel started to desalinate water, it tackled reducing the loss of water in pipelines. About 38 percent of the water in Gaza gets lost,” he said.

The Palestinian Water Authority, based in the West Bank, is technically responsible for overseeing Gaza’s water. However, after Hamas forced the Palestinian Authority out of Gaza during a bloody coup in 2007, it effectively took over control of all essential infrastructure and services in the Strip and the situation deteriorated further.

Hamas refused to fix water system for Gazans

Since 2007, Hamas has followed a cynical policy of diverting essential aid to build up its military infrastructure and keep most Gazans mired in poverty.

Over the years, Hamas has scuttled several multi-million dollar projects intended to give Gazans access to sufficient clean drinking water. In 2009, a $50 million sewage and sanitation facility – which had been agreed on by the Palestinian Authority, Gaza City’s mayor and Israel – was blocked because Hamas refused to allow the relevant Gaza officials to travel overseas to sign the agreement.

Another project was stopped because Hamas also refused to supply electricity to a new $100 million wastewater plant (paid for by international funds).

At times, the Palestinian Authority has told Israel to stop supplying power to Gaza. This means that 100,000 cubic metres of raw or partially treated sewage flows daily into the sea, where Gaza’s drinking water is sourced.

Over the past nine months, since the Hamas-Israel war began on October 7, Israel has been the victim of a vicious campaign of unconscionable smears aided and abetted by the media, human rights organisations and UN agencies. But as with the claims that Israel has caused famine in Gaza which were recently debunked by the UN, no less, it is well past time that the unfounded accusation Israel deliberately denies water to Palestinians is treated with the contempt it deserves.