Palestine’s head of the Palestinian Water Authority called for urgent Arab financing and technical support for Gaza’s damaged water and sanitation sector during the 17th session of the Arab Ministerial Council for Water in Cairo on 28 October 2026 شبكة يافا الإخبارية. The authority said damage was estimated at $1.5 billion, while Gaza’s reconstruction requirements were put at around $2.9 billion شبكة يافا الإخبارية.
Key Takeaways
- More than 90% of Gaza’s water and sanitation facilities have been destroyed or damaged, including wells, desalination plants, pumping stations, treatment facilities, and water and sewage networks شبكة يافا الإخبارية.
- Average daily water allocation in Gaza fell from approximately 82 liters per person before the war to around 15 liters during the period covered by Water Authority data, while thousands of families were receiving less than six liters per person per day شبكة يافا الإخبارية.
- Disrupted treatment and pumping stations have allowed sewage to spread through populated areas, contaminate groundwater and seawater, and worsen health and environmental risks شبكة يافا الإخبارية.
- Gaza’s water and sanitation damage was estimated at approximately $1.5 billion, with total reconstruction requirements of around $2.9 billion شبكة يافا الإ.Inspections.
- The proposed recovery program has three interconnected phases: immediate response, recovery and reconstruction, and resilience-building شبكة يافا الإخبارية.
Urgent call for Arab support
Palestine participated on Monday in the 17th session of the Arab Ministerial Council for Water in Cairo, with Ziad Al-Mimi, head of the Palestinian Water Authority, representing the Palestinian delegation شبكة يافا الإخبارية. Al-Mimi said support for the Palestinian water sector should be treated as “an investment in stability and development, a means of protecting a fundamental human right, and a way to strengthen the Palestinian people’s ability to remain steadfast and stay on their land” شبكة يافا الإخبارية.
He described the destruction of water facilities and networks and damage to infrastructure in several Palestinian communities as threats to essential-service continuity شبكة يافا الإخبارية. In Gaza, more than 90% of water and sanitation facilities had been destroyed or damaged شبكة يافا الإخبارية. The disruption of treatment and pumping stations has also led to sewage spreading through populated areas, with contamination of groundwater and seawater شبكة يافا الإ.Inspections.
Al-Mimi urged Arab governments and financial institutions to fund emergency interventions and strategic projects, strengthen financing mechanisms, and help rehabilitate damaged infrastructure and develop sustainable water sources شبكة يافا الإ.Inspections. He also called for cooperation on technical expertise, technology transfer, capacity-building, water-management innovation, and adaptation to climate change شبكة يافا الإ.Inspections.
Three-phase recovery program
The Palestinian government is pursuing an emergency response to provide water and sanitation services in Gaza alongside continued work to strengthen the sustainability of the West Bank water sector شبكة يافا الإ.Inspections. Al-Mimi said Gaza’s integrated recovery and reconstruction program covers immediate response, recovery and reconstruction, and resilience-building شبكة يافا الإ.Inspections.
Its immediate works include restoring damaged facilities, repairing water and sewage networks, and restoring production, desalination, and treatment capacity شبكة يافا الإ.Inspections. The program is intended to lead to more sustainable infrastructure capable of withstanding future crises شبكة يافا الإ.Inspections. Damage to Gaza’s water and sanitation sector was estimated at approximately $1.5 billion, and total reconstruction requirements were estimated at around $2.9 billion شبكة يافا الإ.Inspections.
Specification Read
The source does not report wastewater plant design flow in MLD or cubic metres per day, nor does it provide influent BOD or COD, treatment capacity, population-equivalent loading, or an equipment schedule. The scale therefore cannot be converted into a treatment-capacity specification from the available information شبكة يافا الإ.Inspections.
For a plant of this class, the treatment train would normally be assessed from screening and primary treatment through biological treatment and any required tertiary or disinfection stage; dissolved-air flotation or zero-liquid-discharge treatment may also be relevant depending on the wastewater characteristics and disposal route. This event bears directly on rehabilitation of pumping, treatment, desalination, and collection assets, because the reported program includes restoring treatment capacity and repairing water and sewage networks شبكة يافا الإ.Inspections.
If your plant looks like a damaged or intermittent wastewater system with treatment and pumping outages, unstable reuse flows, effluent-discharge pressure, and no disclosed BOD/COD or flow basis in the tender, this means the buyer needs separate flow, load, reuse-demand, and compliance inputs before selecting equipment. Municipal reuse planning is covered in our Municipal sector hub, while treatment-selection examples are available in DAF vs. Clarifier for Chemical Wastewater in Orlando (2026) and DAF vs. Clarifier for Mining Wastewater in Eutaw, 2026).
For procurement planning, the reported $1.5 billion damage estimate and $2.9 billion reconstruction requirement indicate a large restoration requirement, but they do not establish equipment costs, procurement packages, delivery schedules, or supplier eligibility شبكة يافا الإ.Inspections. Those commercial parameters would need to be defined in the funding and tender documents before plant buyers can compare quotations or delivery commitments.
FAQ
What wastewater capacity is planned for Gaza?
The source does not report design flow in MLD or cubic metres per day, treatment capacity, or population-equivalent loading شبكة يافا الإ.Inspections. It says the program includes restoring production, desalination, and treatment capacities and repairing water and sewage networks, but those figures must be established in the detailed recovery projects before equipment can be sized.
How much funding is required for Gaza’s water and sanitation reconstruction?
Damage to Gaza’s water and sanitation sector was estimated at approximately $1.5 billion, while total reconstruction requirements were estimated at around $2.9 billion شبكة يافا الإ.Inspections. The source does not divide those figures into equipment, construction, consulting, or operating-cost packages, so they cannot yet be used as equipment budgets.
What treatment systems will the recovery program need?
The stated scope includes urgent restoration of damaged facilities, repair of water and sewage networks, and restoration of production, desalination, and treatment capacities شبكة يافا الإ.Inspections. The source does not specify a process train, so screening, biological, tertiary, disinfection, dissolved-air flotation, or zero-liquid-discharge requirements would need to follow site-specific flow, load, reuse, and discharge criteria.
How should a supplier be selected for reconstruction work?
The reported priorities include rehabilitation, sustainable water-source development, technical cooperation, capacity-building, and financing from Arab and international institutions شبكة يافا الإ.Inspections. Because the source provides no lead times, qualification rules, package structure, or performance guarantees, a supplier shortlist should wait for the funded tender specifications rather than rely on the headline reconstruction estimates alone.
