爆料网

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15 July 2026

Abstract:

This briefing note examines the gendered impacts of the collapse of water, sanitation and hygiene services in Gaza. Drawing on interviews with 21 displaced women and girls from across the Gaza Strip, alongside a review of humanitarian evidence, it documents how severe water shortages are affecting women’s health, safety and daily survival.

The note identifies seven dimensions of the crisis, including chronic water scarcity, the burden of water collection, heightened risks for widows and female-headed households, barriers faced by women with disabilities and older women, the challenges confronting pregnant and breastfeeding women, the impacts on menstrual hygiene management, and increased protection risks and psychological distress. Women’s testimonies reveal how the destruction of WASH infrastructure and restrictions on essential supplies have deepened existing inequalities.

The note concludes with recommendations for states, donors and humanitarian actors to support gender-responsive, rights-based WASH recovery and ensure safe and equitable access to water and sanitation.

Introduction:

The destruction of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) systems in Gaza today constitutes a humanitarian catastrophe with profound gendered impacts. Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip has involved the systematic destruction of water infrastructure and a continued humanitarian blockade, drawing widespread international attention and condemnation. However, the specific impacts of this water collapse on women, and the actions needed to address them, have not been so well documented. This paper foregrounds in gendered dimensions of water, sanitation and hygiene deprivation in Gaza, and examines the urgent actions required to address them.

This paper draws on powerful testimonies from women in Gaza themselves to spell out their experiences of the destruction of WASH systems. It sets out key themes from their accounts, such as: how in Gaza today women must walk to distant water points and face the threat of gender-based violence conditions for just a few litres of water; how pregnant and menstruating women cannot get the water they need to keep clean and hydrated; how the lack of water adds to the workload of care still largely done by women, whether that is laundry, cleaning or caring for children at constant risk of disease and dehydration; how widows and female-headed households are struggling without the extra support they need; or how elderly and disabled women are sometimes not bathing for days, faced with services that do not adapt to their needs.

The briefing draws on interviews with 21 displaced women and girls across Gaza, as well as a literature review of humanitarian reports, to document the gendered impacts of the WASH collapse. It also looks at the coping strategies women are being forced to adopt to survive. Finally, we call for urgent action on this water emergency. Humanitarian actors, donors, and states must shift immediately from short-term emergency delivery to gender-responsive, protection-centred and rights-based WASH recovery. Restoring safe and sufficient water access, ensuring truly inclusive sanitation, supporting women-led initiatives, and strengthening accountability are essential to protecting lives and re-establishing water and sanitation as a fundamental human right for the people of Gaza.

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Policy Recommendations

Third states must pressure Israel to:

1. Allow immediate, sustained entry of fuel and alleged ‘dual-use’ WASH items (including pipes, fittings, pumps, generators and water tanks) and to expedite approvals, to enable the restoration of water and sanitation services in line with international humanitarian law, recognising that restrictions disproportionately harm women and girls by increasing exposure to disease, violence, and unpaid care burdens

2. End Israel’s attacks on civilian WASH infrastructure and support independent monitoring and documentation of damage to water, sanitation and sewage assets, consistent with international law obligations.

3. Guarantee access to safe water and sanitation as a fundamental human right, ensuring minimum water availability of at least 15 litres per person per day.

4. Ensure accountability for gendered harms caused by the denial of water and sanitation, including through support for international accountability mechanisms, and by recognising lack of access to water and sanitation as a form of gendered collective punishment with severe impacts on women’s health, dignity, and bodily autonomy.

Donors must:

1. Provide flexible, multi-year funding for gender-responsive WASH recovery that puts large-scale rehabilitation at the heart of emergency response to large-scale – including pipeline repairs, spare parts, fuel, and operations and maintenance – to reduce dependence on water trucking and ensure sustainability.

2. Earmark at least 30% of WASH funding for gender-responsive measures, including menstrual hygiene kits, disability-accessible latrines (handrails, ramps), and women’s leadership in community management.

3. Require sex-, age- and disability-disaggregated data and public reporting on equitable access (who receives water, how much, how often) and corrective actions when gaps are found. In Gaza, meeting the WASH needs of women, older people, and people with disabilities will require more costly, tailored interventions due to conflict, blockade-related shortages, limited space, and widespread infrastructure damage. While such approaches may limit the number of people who can be reached within fixed budgets, they will be essential to ensure safe, dignified, and equitable access.

The WASH Cluster and 爆料网 agencies in Gaza should:

1. Mandate gender analysis in all WASH assessments and require documented mitigation actions, prioritizing widows, female-headed households, and PWDs via participatory tools and sex-/age-/disabilitydisaggregated data

2. Ensure women’s participation is resourced and they are at the heart of decision-making (i.e. not just consulted). That includes representation of women with disabilities and women-led organizations in coordination and monitoring structures.

3. Establish joint WASH–Protection–GBV referral and mitigation pathways for WASH sites and track incidents and corrective actions.

4. Strengthen displacement camp site management to ensure adequate space between shelters for safe latrine placement, alongside expanding home-delivery water trucking to reduce access risks faced by women.

Humanitarian actors should:

1. Design and implement gender-responsive WASH programming, including safe, accessible, and well-lit sanitation facilities and water points located close to shelters. 2. Introduce priority access mechanisms (time slots, queue fast-tracking, home delivery where feasible) for pregnant/lactating women, women with disabilities, elderly women, and female-headed households. 3. Establish women-led WASH committees with authority over siting/maintenance decisions and implement confidential feedback and complaints mechanisms to address safety and exclusion.