Young people’s access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) during the war on Gaza: longitudinal evidence from GAGE

Since the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023, Israel has carried out actions that amount to genocide. It has systematically destroyed the Gaza Strip, killed tens-of-thousands of people, and deliberately deprived Gaza’s population of life-saving humanitarian aid (Amnesty International, 2024; Asem, 2025; B’Tselem, 2025; Forensic Architecture, 2025; HRW, 2024; UN, 2025). 

Given the unprecedented level of violence, an often-overlooked dimension of the conflict is its impact on WASH services, which has been especially profound in Gaza, where communities were already facing major water and WASH challenges before October 7 with 96% of its water deemed undrinkable (UNICEF, 2023). While the ‘ceasefire’ in place since October 10, 2025, has brought some relief to young people in Gaza, humanitarian aid continues to be obstructed, and hundreds of Palestinians have been killed because of Israeli hostilities (OHCHR, 2026).

Suggested citation

Vintges, J., E., Abu Hamad, B., Leung, S., Diab, R. and Jones, N. (2026) ‘Young people’s access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) during the war on Gaza: longitudinal evidence from GAGE’. Policy brief. London: Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (https://gage.odi.org/young-people-s-access-to-water-sanitation-and-hygiene-wash-during-the-war-on-gaza-longitudinal-evidence-from-gage/)