The Latest from the U.N. on access to water in Gaza
Partners continue to expand efforts to enhance water availability by operating more water points, including wells and small-scale desalination plants (56 vs. 38 in September), activating four desalination plants, and rehabilitating 40 water wells. Emergency maintenance by local municipal actors has further supported service continuity, with five wells restored by the Coastal Municipal Water Utility in January, and 12 main wells repaired by the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) in northern Gaza, including six in Jabalya. Debris removal to reopen roads continues despite shortages in heavy equipment.
Many people continue to rely on water trucking and emergency distributions. According to the WASH cluster, as of 11 February 2026, partners are delivering 19,969 cubic metres of drinking water per day across the Strip, through 126 distribution points in North Gaza, 728 in Gaza city, 453 in Deir al-Balah, and 839 in Khan Younis. Of 723 water-related appeals received by partners between early November and early February; 45 per cent were addressed, while the remainder are under review as partners mobilize resources based on capacity. Partner observations indicate that water shortages are particularly severe in high-density areas, such as Al Mawasi in Khan Younis.
The three Mekorot lines currently supply about 42 per cent of the water they used to provide prior to October 2023 and the flow is unreliable, the WASH Cluster reports. In mid-January, the Mekorot pipeline serving Gaza city, which reportedly supplied 70 per cent of the city’s needs, was damaged, significantly reducing people’s access to drinking water until repairs were completed in early February following coordination with Israeli authorities. Disrupted access to water is exacerbated by irregular fuel deliveries, as reported by the Union of Gaza Strip Municipalities, and shortages of spare parts and consumables needed for repairs.
According to WHO, analysis of 4,978 drinking and domestic water samples collected in 2025 across the Gaza Strip shows that over 77 per cent do not meet health standards. Microbiological contamination remains widespread, with approximately 16 per cent of samples contaminated with fecal coliforms and over eight per cent with E. coli. For drinking water specifically, over 67 per cent of the 4,978 samples did not meet health standards. Unsafe samples were most prevalent in Gaza city (83 per cent), Deir al-Balah (50.5 per cent), Khan Younis (54 per cent), North Gaza (85 per cent); there were no samples from Rafah. According to the Health Cluster, approximately 5,800 cases of acute jaundice syndrome (hepatitis A) were reported in 2025, with a marked increase observed in November and December 2025. In addition, over 496,000 cases of acute watery diarrhoea were reported, of which about 47 per cent were among children under five. This represents a significant increase compared with over 206,000 cases reported in 2024, half among children.
When a Museum Erases a Word: Why the Removal of “Palestine” Matters. 2/15/2026
The British Museum has quietly removed the word “Palestine” from several displays in its Ancient Middle East galleries. The official explanation is that the term was “anachronistic.”
But history and context tell a different story.
A Name With More Than Two Thousand Years of History
The name Palaistinê appears in Herodotus in the 5th century BCE.
The Romans renamed the region Syria Palaestina in 135 CE.
Byzantine, early Islamic, Crusader, and Ottoman sources all used variations of the name.
European maps from the medieval period through the 19th century consistently label the region asPalestine.
And in Britain’s own cultural canon, the word appears in Shakespeare’s Othello — a reminder that “Palestine” has long been part of English literary and historical consciousness.
This is not a modern invention.
It is one of the oldest continuously used geographic names in the region.
Read the entire article here. It includes an action you can take.
Israel approves proposal to register West Bank lands as ‘state property’ 2/15/26
Al Jazeera:
Proposal submitted by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and others, public broadcaster Kan reports.
The Israeli government has approved a proposal to register large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property” for the first time since the Israeli occupation of the territory began in 1967.
Israeli public broadcaster Kan on Sunday said the proposal was submitted by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Defence Minister Israel Katz.
“We are continuing the settlement revolution to control all our lands,” Smotrich said.
Most Palestinian land is not formally registered because it is a long, complicated process that Israel stopped in 1967. Registration of land establishes permanent ownership. International law states an occupying power cannot confiscate or settle land in occupied territories.
The Palestinian Presidency slammed the Israeli government’s decision, calling it a “serious escalation” and saying the Israeli move in effect nullifies signed agreements and clearly contradicts resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Katz described the move as an “essential security and governance measure designed to ensure control, enforcement and full freedom of action for the State of Israel in the area”, The Jerusalem Post newspaper reported.
Last week, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved measures promoted by Smotrich and Katz that further facilitate the unlawful seizure of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.
‘Null and void decision’
The Palestinian group Hamas condemned the decision, calling it an attempt “to steal and Judaise lands in the occupied West Bank by registering them as so-called ‘state lands’”.
In a statement, the group – which led the October 2023 attacks on Israel and fought Israel in its genocidal war in the Gaza Strip – called the approval “a null and void decision issued by an illegitimate occupying power”.
“It is an attempt to forcibly impose settlement and Judaisation on the ground, in flagrant violation of international law and relevant UN resolutions,” it added.
Analysts described the move as a de facto annexation of the Palestinian territory, warning that it will profoundly reshape its civil and legal landscape by eliminating what the Israeli ministers called longstanding “legal obstacles” to the expansion of illegal settlements there.
Speaking from Ramallah in the West Bank, political analyst Xavier Abu Eid told Al Jazeera that Israel is “packing annexation into some sort of a bureaucratic move”. He said the International Court of Justice in 2024 said Israeli actions amount to annexation of the West Bank.
“People should understand this is not just a step towards annexation. We are experiencing annexation as we speak today. What the Israeli government is doing is implanting their political programme – a policy that has already been presented,” he said.