Israel facing water shortages caused by destruction of Gaza’s treatment plants

Israel is facing weeks of water shortages after an exceptional algae bloom crippled much of its desalination capacity, in a crisis scientists say was triggered when Israeli attacks destroyed much of Gaza’s wastewater infrastructure, causing a massive discharge of untreated sewage.

“Pollution does not recognise political borders,” said the Zalul Environmental Association, an Israeli NGO dedicated to protecting the country’s seas and shores. “The discharge of untreated sewage from the Gaza Strip into the sea is contributing to the worsening crisis affecting the Israeli desalination facilities. The wastewater contains nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which feed microalgae and cyanobacteria and may intensify their blooms.”

Despite last year’s US-brokered ceasefire, Gaza remains gripped by a severe water and sanitation crisis. The Palestinian territory is plagued by rodents, and sewage floods its coastline after Israel destroyed its wastewater treatment plants.

Just across the border, a vast bloom of microalgae stretching up to 60 miles (100km) long has clogged filters at five of Israel’s six main desalination plants, which were shut down for days and have since been operating at a reduced level.

Experts say that after nearly three years of war, the environmental consequences of the destruction in Gaza are now spilling back into Israel.

“The discharge of untreated sewage from Gaza into the sea increases risks to Israel’s water production infrastructure along the southern Mediterranean coast,” said Jack Gilron, a professor emeritus and desalination expert at Ben-Gurion University’s Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research. “The current incident reinforces the need to prepare against threats to one of Israel’s main sources of drinking water.”

Since 7 October 2023, Israeli bombardment has destroyed 90% of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure, according to a report by Médecins Sans Frontières. Direct strikes have been carried out on wells, carrier lines, reservoirs and desalination units.

Gaza’s water crisis remains severe. Before the war, 80% the territory’s supply came from an aquifer under the coastal strip, but that supply is now contaminated by seawater and wastewater and unfit for human consumption.

Most of Gaza’s drinking water came from desalination plants and three pipelines controlled by the Israeli water authority, but those pipelines were cut at the start of the war and have only partially reopened.

Meanwhile, damaged or destroyed distribution networks have left much of the population reliant on water trucks.

For many, this means a stark choice between drinking an extra cup of water or saving it to wash their hands and prevent disease, with acute diarrhoea among the leading causes of illness.

“We carry water in jerry cans,” said Nas al-Barawi, 34, a mother of five from Beit Lahia. “We walk with heavy containers or wait for hours in queues. Much of the water is unsafe, and children suffer recurring stomach infections, diarrhoea and skin rashes. Damaged sewage networks and failed pumps have also left wastewater flowing between tents and through residential areas.”

Omar Shatat, the deputy executive director of the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility in Gaza, said all five of the territory’s wastewater treatment plants were out of service, leaving an estimated 45,000 cubic metres of untreated sewage to flow into the Mediterranean every day.

In addition, about 15,000 cubic metres of untreated waste a day seeps into the groundwater from soakaway pits, particularly in the informal camps in al-Mawasi.

“This is a catastrophic situation environmentally and from a public-health perspective,” Shatat said. “The sea is heavily polluted, and the first people affected are Gaza’s residents and displaced people because they are in direct contact with the highest concentrations of sewage.”

Pat Griffiths, the International Committee of the Red Cross’s spokesperson in Gaza City, said the situation was only likely to get worse with the onset of winter. “Palestinians live surrounded by wastewater. It’s all around them. It’s where they eat, where they get water, where they walk,” he said.

Shaimaa al-Katari, 37, who has been displaced to al-Mawasi, said: “We have nowhere to dispose of the water from washing dishes and clothes. We have to let it run into the street, which causes pools of stagnant water to form. Algae and mosquitoes then spread around them and the streets become dirty. We suffer from foul smells, mosquitoes at night and flies during the day, as well as rodents.”

Rats have infested parts of Gaza for months, thriving amid raw sewage and piles of rubbish accumulating around overcrowded camps for displaced people.

Israeli communities near the Gaza border have also been grappling with an unprecedented rat infestation, with rodents swarming homes and gardens.

“The consequences [of the war] do not stop at the border,” said Nada Majdalani, the Palestine director of EcoPeace Middle East, an environmental peacebuilding organisation. “We are already seeing an increase in hepatitis A in Gaza. I believe we are on the verge of a catastrophe. And a serious outbreak in Gaza would not necessarily remain within Gaza’s borders.”

In Israel, authorities are urging people to use water “judiciously” until the system is fully restored. Water supplies have been reduced in the south of the country, and farmers have been instructed to halt irrigation, which economists say will cause food prices to rise.

Zalul and EcoPeace urged Cogat, the Israeli agency charged with administration of Gaza, to help restore the territory’s sewage system and allow wastewater to be treated in Israeli-controlled areas.

Cogat did not respond to a request for comment.

Zalul said: “If the pollution continues, its impact could eventually be felt throughout the country. When the marine environment is contaminated, both people and nature suffer. Regardless of which side of the border they are on.”