GAZA CITY: Long before sunrise each day, 40-year-old Ibtisam Al-Helou leaves the tent where she and her family now live along Gaza City's Mediterranean coastline. Her destination changes daily, but her mission remains the same: finding enough clean water for drinking, cooking and washing.
For Al-Helou, the journey has become part of daily survival. Living beside the sea offers no relief when the only available seawater is unsafe for consumption and the public water network has largely collapsed.
"I live by the sea, and water is very scarce. I suffer from it every day," she said, describing how she walks across different parts of Gaza City in search of functioning water points. Sometimes, she says, water reaches her area only once every three days.
Her experience reflects a humanitarian crisis unfolding across the Gaza Strip, where severe shortages of safe drinking water and the near collapse of sanitation systems are threatening the health of millions.
Water shortages deepen humanitarian crisis
According to United Nations assessments, more than half of Gaza's population—approximately 1.3 million people—now has access to less than six litres of drinking water per person per day, far below internationally recognized emergency standards for basic survival.
Medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reports conditions may be even more severe, with its operational data indicating that many residents receive an average of only 4.3 litres of water daily. Before the conflict, average daily water consumption in Gaza was approximately 85 litres per person.
The shortages have forced many families to rely on water delivered by trucks, damaged wells or untreated groundwater for their daily needs.
Children face growing health risks
The lack of clean water has dramatically altered daily life for children.
Before the conflict, Al-Helou's children bathed several times each day during Gaza's hot summer months. Today, she says, they are fortunate if they can wash once a week.
To escape the intense summer heat, many children swim in the Mediterranean Sea despite growing concerns about pollution and contamination.
According to Al-Helou, the consequences often become apparent shortly afterwards.
She says her children frequently develop skin allergies, itching and scabies after swimming, requiring costly medical treatment that many displaced families can scarcely afford.
Healthcare workers warn that inadequate access to clean water and sanitation significantly increases the spread of infectious diseases, particularly among children living in overcrowded displacement camps.
Disease outbreaks raise alarm
Humanitarian organizations say deteriorating water and sanitation conditions are contributing to increasing disease transmission.
According to MSF surveillance data:
• Acute respiratory infections account for 46% of reported illnesses
• Skin diseases represent 31%
• Acute watery diarrhoea accounts for 21%
Palestinian health officials have also reported approximately 5,000 new chickenpox cases each week over the past month.
Medical experts warn that patients treated at healthcare facilities often return to overcrowded shelters where access to safe water, soap and sanitation remains extremely limited, increasing the likelihood of repeated infections.
Water infrastructure devastated
Officials from Gaza's Health Ministry say the crisis extends far beyond immediate drinking water shortages.
Before the conflict, Gaza operated around 320 water wells. Fewer than 100 remain functional, according to sanitation and wastewater monitoring officials.
Authorities estimate that approximately 80% of Gaza's water distribution network and much of its desalination infrastructure have been damaged or destroyed.
As a result, water trucks have become a critical source of drinking water for thousands of families.
However, humanitarian agencies caution that emergency water deliveries cannot replace a functioning public water supply system capable of serving the entire population.
Untreated sewage threatens Gaza's only freshwater source
Public health experts are also warning of a growing environmental emergency.
According to Palestinian sanitation officials, more than 300,000 cesspits and soak pits are now releasing untreated wastewater into Gaza's coastal aquifer—the territory's only natural freshwater source.
Contamination of the aquifer could create long-term environmental and public health consequences extending well beyond the current humanitarian crisis.
Health officials describe the deterioration as unprecedented, warning that restoring safe water supplies will require rebuilding damaged infrastructure alongside protecting groundwater resources from further contamination.
Aid agencies struggle to reach affected communities
Delivering water across Gaza remains a complex logistical challenge.
Aid workers say damaged roads, widespread rubble and continuing insecurity make it difficult for water trucks to reach displaced communities.
As temperatures climb above 33°C (91°F), long queues form around water distribution points where families wait hours to collect only a few litres of water in plastic containers and jerrycans.
Many residents transport water by hand or using makeshift carts back to crowded displacement camps.
United Nations officials emphasize that while emergency deliveries remain essential, restoring Gaza's water infrastructure remains the only sustainable solution.
Humanitarian response continues
The Israeli military has repeatedly stated that it does not deliberately target essential civilian infrastructure.
COGAT, the Israeli military body responsible for coordinating humanitarian affairs, said earlier this month that it continues working with international organizations to improve water supply and address sanitation and hygiene challenges across Gaza.
Meanwhile, humanitarian agencies continue to call for expanded access to fuel, repair materials, water treatment equipment and humanitarian assistance needed to restore essential public services.
Public health consequences could last for decades
Health experts warn that prolonged disruption of water and sanitation systems may leave lasting consequences long after the immediate humanitarian emergency ends.
Without reliable access to clean water, communities face increased risks of waterborne diseases, chronic malnutrition, poor hygiene, environmental degradation and recurring infectious disease outbreaks.
Public health specialists emphasize that rebuilding hospitals alone will not be enough. Restoring safe drinking water systems, sanitation infrastructure and wastewater treatment facilities will be essential to protecting population health and preventing future disease transmission.
For families like Ibtisam Al-Helou's, however, the crisis remains painfully immediate.
Each morning begins with the same uncertain question: where will today's water come from?
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