The Gaza Strip has been facing a steadily worsening water crisis for the past decade. Overall, more than 96% of water in the Gaza Strip is unfit for human use.

In theory, Israel is responsible for addressing any challenges related to water resources in the West Bank, as it is the occupying power and controls the resources. However, Israel has failed to fulfil these obligations and the responsibility has fallen to international donors along with Palestinian authorities …

Water resource access and distribution in the West Bank is decentralized and fragmented. Prior to the Oslo Accords and the establishment of the PWA, water distribution and administration were under the control of the West Bank Water Department (WBWD). Its role was to mediate between the Palestinian population as end users and Mekorot as the water supplier in the West Bank. Currently, WBWD is one of many institutions that supply water in the West Bank.

The dramatic deterioration of water quality in Gaza poses a grave public health threat and forms a major challenge for the Palestinian water sector. Gaza’s groundwater has become saline following years of over-exploitation of the Coastal Aquifer. Inflow of saline water is both a result of seawater intrusion and of lateral inflow from Israel …

Gaza’s water crisis has been steadily worsening over recent decades. The area’s only source of fresh water is the Coastal Aquifer, a groundwater basin that runs the length of the Gaza Strip and along part of the Israeli coast.