Gaza families rent generators by the hour to pump water amid power cuts

September 12, 2026 at 04:43 PM2 min

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Families in Gaza City are renting small generators by the hour to run water pumps, paying 80 to 120 shekels per hour plus diesel. Residents wait in queues as generator owners move machines from house to house. The practice has become essential after Israeli strikes left neighbourhoods without municipal electricity or water supplies.

Key Facts

Hajj Rabhi al-Fairi, 79, waits outside his Gaza City home for a rented generator to power his water pump.
Families pay 80 to 120 shekels ($26-40) per hour to rent a generator, excluding diesel costs.
Khalil Abu Ouda, 39, moves a generator on a horse-drawn cart from house to house in northern Gaza.
Few small mobile generators remain in working condition in Gaza due to breakdowns and scarce spare parts.

Water Access Crisis

Hajj Rabhi al-Fairi, 79, has been standing outside his home in Gaza City for more than four hours with his children and neighbours, waiting to use a small generator. The generator's owner pours in fuel, starts a timer, and switches on the machine, giving each family a few minutes to operate a pump that pushes water to a rooftop storage tank. Al-Fairi's family returned to their home in October 2025 after fleeing a month earlier during Israel's assault on their neighbourhood. The neighbourhood and home were badly damaged from years of Israeli bombing, with no municipal electricity or water supplies functioning.

Generator Rental Economy

Each family needs about seven or eight minutes to fill their tanks, but with the number of flats in the building, the generator must be rented for about an hour. Families used to pay about 80 to 90 shekels ($26-30) to rent a generator for an hour, but the price has risen to about 100 or 120 shekels ($33-40) per hour, excluding diesel. Khalil Abu Ouda, 39, takes a generator mounted on a horse-driven cart from one house to another, connecting long electrical cables to water pumps. Abu Ouda says the machine is both a service for the neighbourhood and an essential source of income for his family.

Generator Scarcity

Abu Ouda says there are very few small, mobile generators like his left in working condition in Gaza. Many generators have broken down, while spare parts are difficult to find or too expensive to source due to Israel's siege. Mechanics are expensive to hire, and fuel and engine oil are increasingly scarce and costly.