More than 700 Palestinians, mostly children, have been killed by Israeli army fire while collecting water since October 2023, local authorities said on Monday, according to Anadolu Agency.

“The Israeli occupation continues to wage a systematic and deliberate war of thirst against the Palestinian people in Gaza, in a flagrant violation of all international and humanitarian conventions,” Gaza’s government media office said in a statement.

The office accused Israeli forces of using water as a weapon of war “to deprive the Palestinians of their most basic rights.”

It noted that Israeli army forces had committed 112 massacres against Gazans collecting water, killing more than 700 people, mostly children, since October 2023.

On Sunday, at least 12 people were killed, including eight children, by Israeli fire while waiting to collect water in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

The media office said that over 720 water wells were deliberately destroyed by the Israeli army in Gaza.

“Attacks on water wells have deprived more than 1.25 million Palestinians of access to clean water," it added.