Water and water infrastructure are being increasingly targeted with impunity in conflicts from Gaza to Ukraine. The effects on health are complex, compounding, and longlasting. Rebecca Sers reports.
Water has been used as a weapon of war for millennia. But in the current conflicts in Gaza, Syria, and Ukraine, the weaponisation of water has become increasingly visible not least because of the deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure by warring parties. According to Mark Zeitoun of the Geneva Water Hub, it has become “unfortunately, a normal way of doing war”. Water and energy infrastructure have been attacked repeatedly during these conflicts with consequences for water supply, sanitation, irrigation, and water ecosystems. Access to safe drinking water and sanitation are internationally recognised human rights. Moreover, water and development outcomes are inextricably linked. The use of water as a weapon of war has severe short-term and long-term public health and environmental impacts. Despite this, Zeitoun told The Lancet that “the damage to water infrastructure doesn’t get the headlines. What people don’t realise until it’s pointed out is that it’s so directly linked with people’s lives and dignity, as much as hospitals are”.
