Searching for drinking water turns into a daily suffering for displaced people in Gaza

Among the camp’s narrow alleys, empty plastic containers become part of the daily scene. Their owners put them in long lines to reserve their turn, while the children watch the road leading to the camp, hoping that the water truck will appear before they run out of what is left.

A United Nations news correspondent in Gaza documented through his lens the details of the daily suffering that residents go through to obtain safe drinking water, in light of the continuing water crisis and shortage of supplies.

Waiting does not guarantee getting water

Mervat Dawwas, a displaced woman from the town of Beit Lahia who lives in a camp near the Gaza coast, describes the daily struggle to obtain drinking water: “Here we suffer unnaturally from the lack of desalinated drinking water. We suffer from a major problem in obtaining it, as we are forced to carry water jugs and utensils for filling water. I live at the end of the camp, and it is difficult for me to come to fill water and carry the water jugs.”

Dawwas says that the journey to search for water does not end with reaching the distribution point, as even the arrival of the truck is not guaranteed: “The water truck does not always come, and sometimes desalinated water is not available, and sometimes I do not know whether I will reach the water filling line and be able to fill water or not. This is because we do not have desalinated water on a daily basis.”

She adds that even the tools that the displaced use to transport water have become an additional burden in their daily lives: “Even the tools or utensils used to fill desalinated water have become a source of suffering. Sometimes I am confused between carrying a water bottle, a gallon, or a plastic bucket. The situation is very difficult, and we are experiencing great suffering.”

As for the displaced person, Moin Marouf, he says that the residents’ lives have become linked to the arrival of the water truck, and he adds: “This is our daily routine. If the water truck arrives and we don’t hear its horn, we may not be able to fill water, we may not be able to drink or wash. This is our life.”

The water problem affects millions of children

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says that 1.1 million children in the Gaza Strip face daily uncertainty about access to water, while 82 percent of families suffer from water insecurity, and up to 70 percent of the population is unable to collect the recommended minimum, which is six liters per person per day for drinking and cooking.

The UN agency added that water distribution via tankers remains a vital lifeline for hundreds of thousands of residents, despite operational challenges and continued pressure on water systems.

The majority of displaced people in the Gaza Strip rely on mobile trucks as the main source of drinking water, at a time when overcrowding inside displacement camps and high temperatures during the summer are exacerbating pressure on limited water sources, turning the task of obtaining a few liters of water into one of the most arduous details of daily life for displaced families in tents.