Draft Stakeholder Engagement Plan

Highlights

The conflict in Gaza has caused extensive damage across critical sectors and created unprecedented recovery and reconstruction needs. The April 2026 Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA) estimates physical damages at US$35.2 billion, economic losses at US$22.7 billion, and overall recovery and reconstruction needs at approximately US$71.4 billion over the next three to five years.

 Around 1.9 million people have been internally displaced. Water, sanitation, energy, and health services have been particularly affected and are operating under severe constraints. Given the strong interdependence between these sectors, disruptions in one service further undermine the functioning of others, increasing public health and environmental risks.

Gaza’s water and sanitation sector faced significant structural challenges even before the conflict. While network coverage was relatively high, water resources were severely constrained by overabstraction and deterioration of groundwater quality. Only a small share of the population had access to safely managed drinking water, and households depended heavily on alternative water sources.

 Wastewater treatment and stormwater drainage systems also faced capacity constraints. These pre-existing vulnerabilities left water and sanitation services particularly susceptible to the impacts of the conflict.