Palestinians Deliberately Deprived of Food, Water, and Other Necessities
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Since March 2, 2025, the Israeli government has again blocked all aid entering Gaza, including fuel, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
Officials working with Gaza’s Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) told Human Rights Watch that there are only enough fuel reserves to continue operating water facilities for one week, at which nearly all water production from wells and one of Gaza’s two functional desalination facilities will come to a halt.
According to the officials, Israeli authorities have also denied CMWU requests to repair one of the three water pipelines that provides water to Gaza from Israel, which has been out of service for six weeks due to Israeli forces’ military operations in the so-called buffer zone in eastern Gaza.
The United Nations-led Food Security Sector reported that at least 80 community kitchens in Gaza will soon run out of food supplies if the aid blockage continues. The World Food Programme warned on March 5 that it only had enough food supplies to keep public kitchens and bakeries open for less than two more weeks if Israeli authorities don’t allow in more aid, according to the Associated Press.
By cutting aid, Israel continues to flout binding orders from the International Court of Justice. Human Rights Watch has documented that thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have likely died, and will likely continue to die, as a result of malnutrition, dehydration, and disease stemming from Israeli authorities’ blocking access to food, water, and other supplies necessary for the survival of Gaza’s population. Since October 7, 2023, Israeli authorities have committed the war crime of using starvation as a method of warfare, the crime against humanity of extermination, and acts of genocide.
During the ceasefire that came into effect in mid-January 2025, Palestinians’ access to food and water increased; more trucks entered Gaza and increased fuel allowed groundwater wells to double their production of water.
But they still did not reach pre-October 7, 2023, levels of access that was already severely restricted amid Israel’s unlawful closure of Gaza since 2007. Israel continues to bar commercial goods from entering Gaza and denies the entry of critical water, sanitation, and hygiene equipment, and supplies, such as cement, needed to repair and rebuild damaged and destroyed infrastructure.
Israel as a warring party has an obligation to facilitate humanitarian aid, ceasefire or not. As the occupying power, Israel is also bound to ensure food and medical supplies for Gaza’s population.
States should press the Israeli government to immediately lift its unlawful blockade of Gaza, restore water and electricity access, and allow in desperately needed water, food, medical aid, and fuel.
March 6, 2025: This version of the dispatch has been updated to reflect the accurate name of Gaza’s Coastal Municipalities Water Utility.
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출처: Human Rights Watch