Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of committing “acts of genocide” in Gaza by deliberately depriving Palestinian residents of access to sufficient water.
It says Israel’s actions include deliberately damaging water and sanitation infrastructure.
The campaigning group says that this may have caused the death of thousands of people, which they say is tantamount to “committing a crime against humanity of genocide”.
Israel refused HRW report as “propaganda”.
In a post on Xa spokesman for Israel’s foreign ministry said the group had “once again spread its bloody lies… The truth is the complete opposite of HRW’s lies”.
The 179-page report states that “since October 2023, the Israeli authorities have deliberately prevented Palestinians from accessing the sufficient amount of water necessary for survival in the Gaza Strip”.
It says Israel has deliberately destroyed infrastructure, including solar panels that power medical facilities, a water reservoir, and a storage facility for spare parts, while also blocking fuel for generators.
It says Israel has also cut off electricity, attacked repairmen and blocked access to Gaza for repair equipment.
“This is not just negligence,” said HRW executive director Tirana Hassan. “It is a calculated policy of deprivation that has led to the death of thousands from dehydration and disease which is not part of a crime against humanity of genocide, and an act of genocide.”
The report is based on interviews with dozens of Palestinians from Gaza, including water authority officials, sanitation experts and health care 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 abducting 251 others.
At least 45,129 people have been killed in Gaza since the attack began, according to the health ministry run by Hamas in the area. It does not put a figure on the number of people who died due to lack of water or other such causes.
The HRW report notes that to commit the crime of genocide, the alleged acts require proof of intent. It says the findings, including statements made by senior Israeli officials, “may indicate such intent”.
But, dismissing HRW’s allegations against X, Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said Israel had facilitated “the continuous flow of water and aid to Gaza, despite the relentless attacks by the terrorist organization Hamas”.
He said the water pipelines and pumping and desalination plants were still working, and that water tankers had been bringing supplies to Gaza through the Israeli border.
“This report is full of shocking lies even when compared to HRW’s already low level,” he added.
The HRW report is the latest in a series of allegations by rights groups and others that Israel is carrying out massacres in its operation in Gaza.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) – the UN’s highest court – is also currently investigating a case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of killing people.
The Genocide Convention of 1948, passed after the Nazi Holocaust of European Jewry, defines genocide as “acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, racial, ethnic or religious group”.
Israel has strongly denied such accusations as “absolutely baseless” and motivated by hatred of the people. It says it has not intentionally harmed the citizens of Gaza, and is only fighting Hamas.
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