Activists warn of water crisis in Gaza as G7 leaders meet in Evian, France

Activists wearing papier-mache heads posing as G7 leaders and holding glasses of clean water set up a symbolic scene in front of Lake Geneva in Publier.

At the center stood a large bottle labelled 'Gaza' filled with dirty water, highlighting what the group says is a lack of access to safe drinking water in the enclave.

The protest took place on the second day of the summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, with U.S. President Donald Trump and leaders of Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy and Japan in attendance.

Talks are expected to centre on security in Ukraine and Europe and efforts to address the Middle East crisis, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and leaders from Brazil, India, Kenya and South Korea and Middle East countries also joining.

Oxfam says 82% of Gaza’s population lacks access to clean water, and humanitarian expert Louis-Nicolas Jandeaux said the protest aimed to draw attention to what he called the absence of Gaza and other conflict-affected areas from the G7 agenda.

“It seemed crucial to us, at a time when the G7 leaders are discussing the situation in the Middle East just a few kilometres away, to raise the alarm about the fact that there are countries, there are contexts in which we see no improvement whatsoever,” he said.

“Everyone is, in a way, welcoming the recent agreement between Iran and the United States. But in fact, we see that Gaza, Lebanon, the occupied Palestinian territory in general, are absent from the agenda, even though we are experiencing a catastrophe", Jandeaux said.

-Cecile Mantovani/Reuters