A youth speaks to a boy filling up buckets with water from a hose near tents at a shelter for displaced Palestinians in Gaza City.AFP
In a new report, which focused specifically on water, the New York-based rights group detailed deliberate efforts by Israeli authorities "of a systematic nature" to deprive Gazans of water, which had caused thousands of deaths... and will likely continue to cause deaths.
"Since October 2023, Israeli authorities have deliberately obstructed Palestinians' access to the adequate amount of water required for survival in the Gaza Strip," the report said.
The HRW report detailed the intentional damaging of water and sanitation infrastructure, including solar panels powering treatment plants, a reservoir and a spare parts warehouse, as well as the blocking of fuel for generators.
Israel also cut electricity supplies, attacked repair workers and blocked the importation of repair materials, it said.
The report concluded that in doing so, "Israeli authorities intentionally inflicted on the Palestinian population in Gaza 'conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.'"
This, it said, amounted to the war crime of "extermination" and to "acts of genocide".
Speaking at a briefing on the report, Lama Faqih, director of HRW's Middle East and North Africa division, said that in the absence of "a clear articulated plan" to commit genocide, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) might find that the evidence meets the "very strict threshold" of reasonable inference of genocidal intent.
HRW pointed to a statement by then-defence minister Yoav Gallant in October 2023, when he declared a "complete siege" and said: “We are fighting human animals and we will act accordingly,” “There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel. Everything is closed.”
Israel is facing a case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice last December, arguing that the war in Gaza breached the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention.
On December 5, Amnesty International accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
'Malnourished and dehydrated'
The HRW report, drawn up over nearly a year, is based on interviews with dozens of Gazans, staff at water and sanitation facilities, medics and aid workers, as well as satellite imagery, photographs, videos and data analysis.
The lack of water left Gazans vulnerable to water-borne diseases and complications, such as infected wounds and the inability to heal due to dehydration, HRW said.
Deaths from such cases "are likely vastly underreported", the report said.
Doctors and nurses told HRW "that many of their patients have died from preventable diseases and infections, and healable wounds, due to dehydration and the unavailability of water".
One emergency room nurse cited in the report said they were forced to decide "not to resuscitate children who were severely malnourished and dehydrated".
The rights group called on the international community to "take all measures within their power to prevent genocide by Israeli authorities in Gaza".
That included "discontinuing any military assistance and arms sales or transfers, imposing targeted sanctions, and reviewing bilateral deals and diplomatic relations".
* This story was edited by Ahram Online.
Short link: