Gaza government: Israel is committing massacres and waging a "war of thirst" that has killed hundreds.

The government media office in the Gaza Strip accused Israel on Monday of waging a "systematic war of thirst" that has claimed the lives of hundreds, most of them children. It described these attacks as "a full-fledged war crime."

The office said that Tel Aviv has committed 112 massacres targeting water filling lines, resulting in the deaths of more than 700 Palestinians, since October 7, 2023.

The office explained in a statement that the occupation is using water as a collective weapon to exterminate the population and deprive them of their most basic rights, in flagrant violation of international and humanitarian laws. It noted that the most recent of these crimes occurred in the Nuseirat camp yesterday, Sunday, when 12 people, including eight children, were killed while waiting at a water filling station.

The statement noted that the Israeli army destroyed 112 sources of fresh water and put 720 wells out of service, depriving more than 1.25 million people of clean water. It also prevented the entry of 12 million liters of fuel per month, which is necessary to operate wells, sewage treatment plants, and waste collection vehicles, causing a near-total paralysis of water and sewage networks and exacerbating the spread of epidemics among children.

The office noted that Israel's cutting off of Mekorot's water supply since January 2025, and its shutdown of the electricity line supplying the Deir al-Balah Central Desalination Plant in March, have exacerbated the crisis and pushed the Gaza Strip toward a severe water crisis.

The office considered the "war of thirst" a full-fledged war crime under the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law, calling for urgent international action to halt this war, ensure access to water for the population, and pressure the entry of fuel and operating equipment.

It also called for an urgent international investigation into the crime of starvation, as it is part of the ongoing genocidal policies against civilians in Gaza, amidst the ongoing killing, starvation, destruction, and displacement, and Israel's continued disregard for all international appeals and orders from the International Court of Justice.

It pointed out that the US-backed aggression has claimed more than 196,000 lives and wounded, most of them children and women, with thousands missing, widespread famine, and hundreds of thousands displaced.