Por Renan Filho · 2026-11-06
**Lead**
Unicef has raised the alarm over a sharp increase in attacks on water infrastructure in conflict zones around the world, warning that the deliberate targeting of water systems is pushing millions of children into a deadly cycle of disease, malnutrition and displacement. In a statement released on Thursday, the agency highlighted that violations of international humanitarian law — including the destruction of water treatment plants, pipelines and pumping stations — have become a systematic tactic in several ongoing conflicts, from Gaza to Sudan and Ukraine.
**Contexto**
The warning comes amid a broader deterioration of civilian protection in armed conflicts. According to Unicef, water infrastructure has been repeatedly struck in areas where fighting is most intense, leaving entire communities without access to safe drinking water. In the Gaza Strip, for example, the majority of water and sanitation facilities have been damaged or destroyed since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023, forcing families to rely on contaminated sources and drastically increasing the risk of cholera and other waterborne diseases.
In Sudan, where a brutal civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces has raged since April 2023, attacks on water systems have compounded an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis. The World Health Organization has reported outbreaks of cholera and dengue fever in several states, directly linked to the collapse of water and sanitation networks. Unicef has documented dozens of incidents in which water treatment plants were shelled or deliberately shut down, cutting off supply to millions of civilians.
Ukraine has also seen a troubling pattern of strikes against water infrastructure since the full-scale Russian invasion began in February 2022. The Ukrainian government and international monitors have recorded hundreds of attacks on dams, reservoirs and pumping stations, many of which have left large urban populations without running water for extended periods. The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in June 2023 was one of the most severe single incidents, flooding vast areas and disrupting water supplies to hundreds of thousands of people.
**Analise**
The intensification of attacks on water infrastructure represents a grave violation of the Geneva Conventions, which explicitly prohibit the targeting of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population. Yet, as Unicef’s latest warning underscores, these attacks are not only continuing but becoming more frequent and more deliberate. The agency has called on all parties to conflicts to immediately cease such strikes and to uphold their legal obligations to protect civilian infrastructure.
The impact on children is particularly severe. Without clean water, the risk of diarrhoeal diseases — a leading cause of death among children under five in humanitarian emergencies — skyrockets. Malnourished children, already vulnerable, become even more susceptible to infections. Moreover, the destruction of water systems often forces families to flee their homes, further destabilising entire regions and creating long-term displacement crises.
Beyond the immediate humanitarian toll, the systematic targeting of water infrastructure undermines any prospect of post-conflict recovery. Rebuilding water networks in war-torn areas is enormously costly and time-consuming, and the psychological scars left on communities that have been deliberately deprived of a basic necessity for survival are deep. Unicef has stressed that protecting water systems is not only a legal obligation but a moral imperative, and that the international community must hold perpetrators accountable.
**Fontes**
United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) — official statement on attacks on water infrastructure in conflict zones, November 2026. World Health Organization — reports on disease outbreaks linked to water infrastructure damage in Sudan and Gaza. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights — documentation of violations of international humanitarian law in Ukraine and Gaza. Geneva Conventions, 1949, and Additional Protocols — legal framework protecting civilian infrastructure during armed conflict.