Cláudia Maria Vidal Torres Rangel

Thirst Among the Ruins tells the story of the systematic targeted obliteration of Gaza’s water infrastructure by Israel, and how it violates international humanitarian law.

Decades of Israeli occupation have left Palestinians struggling to access clean water. Israel controls a majority of the freshwater resources in the occupied West Bank. And in Gaza, its 16-year blockade and military operations have had a devastating effect on the water supply. Monitoring groups say about 97 percent of the water supply in Gaza is contaminated and unfit for human consumption.

Gaza’s only freshwater source, the Coastal Aquifer, cannot meet demand and has been depleted by overextraction and contaminated by sewage. Rising temperatures and sea levels are only making life more difficult, while in Israel, residents do not have to worry about the taps running dry. People and Power examines this growing disparity.