Middle East

Israel accused of denying Palestinians water

Article published on the 2009-10-27 Latest update 2009-10-27 16:30 TU

A Palestinian boy drinks from a public tap in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza strip on 27 October, 2009
(Photo: Reuters)

Amnesty International has accused Israel of denying Palestinians adequate access to water while providing Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank with almost unlimited supplies.

In a report published on Tuesday, the human rights group said Israel pursues “discriminatory policies” in its control of the availability of water in the Palestinian territories.

“Israel allows the Palestinians access to only a fraction of the shared water resources, which lie mostly in the occupied West Bank while the unlawful Israeli settlements there receive virtually unlimited supplies,” said Amnesty researcher Donatella Rovera.

The report, Troubled waters – Palestinians denied fair access to water, finds that Israel consumes four times more water than Palesintians, who use an average of 70 litres a day per person.

It says some Palestinians survive on barely 20 litres of water per capita a day, while in some areas of the West Bank settlements use up to 20 times more water per capita than nearby Palestinian communities.

Amnesty says settlers enjoy “swimming pools, well-watered lawns and large irrigated farms” and claims that Israel restricts availability of water “by maintaining total control over the shared resources and pursuing discriminatory policies.”

But between 180,000 and 200,000 Palestinians in West Bank rural communities have no access to running water, while taps in other areas often run dry, the report says.

Ayman Rahbi, the executive director of the non-governmental Palestinian Hydrology Group in Ramallah, said the report reflects "what is really going on" in the Palestinian territories.

"Many communities in the West Bank are not connected to a water supply system," Rahbi told RFI. "We’re talking about around 160 communities that are still lacking any proper water supply systems and they rely on only catching rain when it comes to being supplied with water for their basic water use.

"Most of these areas are obliged to live with 10 to 20 or 30 litres per capita per day, which is the very, very minimum quantities needed to care for a human being, just to keep alive."

Rovera called for Israel to take action to address the issue.

"Israel must end its discriminatory policies, immediately lift all restrictions it imposed on Palestinians' access to water, and take responsibility for addressing the problems it created by allowing Palestinians a fair share of the shared water resources."

Israel has rejected the findings of the report.