Children are drinking from puddles and wading through sewage pools, as Israel pummels water systems in Gaza

Many water facilities have been damaged or destroyed by Israel’s war in Gaza, according to the UN and others, compounding the civilian population’s suffering, risking the spread of disease and leading human rights experts to accuse Israel of using water supply as a weapon.

Guns swinging from their hips, two soldiers in black combat boots and green tactical clothing appear to wire explosives to pumps at the Canada Water reservoir in Rafah, southern Gaza. Moments later, an orange blaze tears through the critical facility in the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, as ribbons of grey smoke erupt into the sky. The blast was captured in a now deleted video, which was reportedly shared by an Israeli soldier on Instagram and geolocated by CNN. Satellite imagery shows that the reservoir was damaged between July 26 and July 27. Destroyed buildings are visible in the surrounding area. The reservoir could hold 3 million liters of water and was central to the treatment and distribution of water in the Rafah Governate, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), providing water for 150,000 people prior to October 7, when the war began. When asked about the incident captured on camera, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told CNN that its troops had been operating in the Tal al-Sultan area for several weeks to “dismantle terrorist infrastructures and eliminate terrorists, whilst taking feasible measures in order to mitigate damage to civilian structures.” It added that it examines reports of videos posted to social media and handles them with disciplinary measures. The IDF said the incident was under review by the Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism, “an independent investigative mechanism outside the chain of command entrusted with investigating exceptional events in warfare.”