Human Rights Watch: Israel commits genocide through water restrictions in Gaza
Human Rights Watch: Israel commits genocide through water restrictions in Gaza
Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Israel on Thursday to commit "genocide acts" against Palestinians in Gaza by accessing them to Sufficient water resources
water shortage as a humanitarian crisis
In a detailed report, HRW found that between October 2023 and September 2024 the Israeli authorities of Palestinians removed the amount of water that the World Health Organization (WHO) regarded as a minimum for survival in prolonged emergencies. This has led to thousands of deaths and the distribution of numerous illnesses, according to the report.
reactions of the Israeli government
The Israeli military and the cogat, the Israeli authority, who is responsible for the approval of aid deliveries according to Gaza, askedCNN.
The Israeli government back and has To use war weapon.
water requirement and insufficient supply
According to the WHO, a person needs between 50 and 100 liters (13 and 26 gallons) water a day to "meet their basic needs." In prolonged emergencies, the minimum amount of water can drop to 15 to 20 liters per day for drinking and washing.
For the over 2 million Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip, even this amount is unreachable, according to HRW. Most or all the water that the Palestinians can access in Gaza is not drinkable.
accusations of genocide and lack of water
hrw explains that the actions of Israel are to be regarded as a genocide in the sense of the genocide agreement and the Roman statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The withdrawal of water leads to a slow dying of the Palestinians in Gaza, including newborns, whose mothers cannot breastfeed due to malnutrition and dehydration, and which are fed with formula mixed in dirty water.
The war of Israel in Gaza, which began after the Hamas attack in October 2023, killed almost 45,000 Palestinians and injured 106,000 more.
Destruction of the water infrastructure
hrw states that the disability of the water supply in Gaza is an intentional act of the Israeli authorities. They refer to the blockade of humanitarian aid, including the supply of materials for water treatment, restrictions when transporting clean water through pipelines from Israel to Gaza and the "massive" damage to Gazas water infrastructure caused by Israeli air strikes.
In January, the World Bank and Ipsos, a market research company, estimated that almost 60 % of the water and sewage infrastructure in Gaza were damaged or destroyed by fighting. This proportion had increased to 84 % by August.
feared epidemics by lack of water
in July, Israeli soldiers destroyed an important water tank that provided Rafah in southern Gazas. The explosion was recorded in a now deleted video that was allegedly shared by an Israeli soldier on Instagram and by cnn was geolokized
international law and humanitarian needs
Israel has been exposed to allegations for a long time to use water as a war weapon. Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, the UN special rapporteur for the human right to secure drinking water and sanitary facilities, said in November 2023 that “every hour in which Israel prevents safe drinking water in the Gaza strip-in a blatant violation of international law-the Gazaner exposes the risk and dying from thirst and diseases connected. ”