A longstanding electricity deficit, compounded by shortages in fuel needed to run Gazas power plant, results in power outages of up to 12 hours a day. Additionally, only a quarter of households receive running water every day, during several hours only, while over 90% of the water extracted from the Gaza aquifer is unsafe for human consumption.
As the occupying power, Israel has a duty under International Humanitarian Law to ensure the welfare of the population of Gaza without discrimination. Israel has failed to uphold the populations human rights, including the rights to health, to education, to work and to an adequate standard of living, which includes the rights to food and adequate housing. Israel should be held accountable under international law for the collective punishment of an entire population.