“Industrial waste can contain heavy metals, you only need a small amount to pollute a water supply and that could cause cancers” - Dr. Nadil Khateeb,  Water and Environmental Development Organisation in Bethlehem

Between the contamination and scarcity of water, the health of the Palestinian people is being adversely affected.

Breast cancer has become the second leading cause of death for Palestinian women. Arab women on average have much lower rates of cancer than Western women. Yet estimates hold that one in ten Palestinian women will suffer from breast cancer. Could these high rates (high for the Arab world at least) be connected with the womens' contact with contaminated water? For now, no studies have been conducted.

Furthermore, because of the limited mobility within Israel and the Territories, Palestinian women have difficulty diagnosing their cancer early on in the disease’s life. The Palestinian Health Ministry reports that 60% of Palestinian women were diagnosed after the cancer spread to other parts of their body. In Gaza, there are only three places from which women can receive a mammography. Two of these centers are private. To get a private mammogram, it costs roughly thirty dollars. For most Palestinian women, this is very expensive.

Carcinogenic subtances such heavy metals, fuels and organic compounds affect the whole population of the Territories and Israel. However, apart from causing cancer, these subtances are also responsible for increasing rates of anemia in infants and spontaneous abortions in humans and animals.

Other health adverse effects from the consumption of water in the Territories include fluorosis which is caused by the excessively high levels of fluoride. Fluorisis causes kidney failure, ulcers, calcification of soft tissue and crippling deformities. As indicated in tests, the fluoride index of Gaza's aquifers was four times higher than the safe level.

There are also high levels of salinity in the coastal aquifers of Gaza due to overuse and the incursion of the Mediterranean Sea. Excess consumption of sodium leads to neurological failures, kidney failure, high blood pressure and congestive heart failure.