HRW accuses Israel of acts of genocide over access to water in Gaza

Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of committing “acts of genocide” in Gaza by deliberately denying Palestinian civilians proper access to water.

It says Israel’s actions include the deliberate damage to water and sanitation infrastructure.

The campaign group says it is likely to have caused thousands of deaths, which it says is also tantamount to “committing a crime against humanity in the form of extermination”.

Israel rejected HRW report as “propaganda”.

In a message on Xa spokesman for Israel’s foreign ministry said the group was “once again spreading a blood libel… The truth is the complete opposite of HRW’s lies.”

The 179-page report said that “since October 2023, Israeli authorities have deliberately prevented Palestinians from accessing sufficient water necessary for survival in the Gaza Strip.”

It said Israel had deliberately damaged infrastructure, including solar panels that power the sewage treatment plant, a reservoir and a spare parts warehouse, and blocked fuel for generators.

It says Israel has also cut off electricity supplies, attacked repair workers and blocked the entry of repair materials into Gaza.

“This is not just negligence,” said HRW executive director Tirana Hassan. “It is an elaborate policy of deprivation that has resulted in the death of thousands of people from dehydration and disease, which is nothing less than a crime against humanity in the form of extermination and an act of genocide.”

The report is based on interviews with dozens of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, including water officials, sanitation experts and health workers, as well as satellite imagery and data from October 2023 to September 2024.

Israel launched a major military offensive in Gaza after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

At least 45,129 people have been killed in Gaza since the offensive began, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. It does not indicate the number of those who died as a result of lack of access to water or other similar causes.

The HRW report notes that the alleged acts require evidence of intent to constitute the crime of genocide. It said the findings, including statements by senior Israeli officials, “may indicate such intent.”

But rejecting HRW’s allegations about X, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmarstein said Israel facilitated a “constant flow of water and humanitarian aid to Gaza despite operating under constant attacks by the terrorist organization Hamas.”

He said water pipes, pumping and desalination plants continued to operate, and that water tankers had repeatedly delivered water to Gaza through Israeli crossings.

“This report is full of lies that are appalling even by HRW’s already low standards,” he added.

The HRW report is the latest in a series of accusations by rights groups and others that Israel is committing genocide during its campaign in Gaza.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) – the UN’s highest court – is also currently hearing a case brought by South Africa, which accuses Israel of genocide.

The 1948 Genocide Convention, adopted after the Nazi Holocaust of European Jewry, defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.”

Israel categorically rejects such accusations as “completely unfounded” and motivated by anti-Semitism. It says he did not intentionally harm the civilian population in Gaza and that he is fighting only against Hamas.