Water - trying to understand

Today I am continuing my series of posts on significant issues for the West Bank. I am drawing on an excellent report written by Elizabeth Koek published by Al Haq in 2013 and titled "Water for one people only".

I visited Al-Haq in my first week here and was most impressed. The Al-Haz website says: "Al-Haq documents violations of the individual and collective rights of Palestinians in the OPT, irrespective of the identity of the perpetrator, and seeks to end such breaches by way of advocacy before national and international mechanisms and by holding the violators accountable." 

The report points out that, contrary to common belief, there is not an overall water shortage in Israel and the West Bank. The issue is that Israel systematically controls the water resources in the West Bank and limits the supply to Palestinians.

In 1967, Israel placed all Palestinian water infrastructure under military control, and in 1982   it was sold to the National Israel Water Company Mekorot (for 1 Shekel). 

There are three main sources of water in Israel/Palestine - the mountain aquifers, the Jordan valley and the Coastal aquifer under Gaza. 

Israel currently extracts 89% of the water from the mountain aquifers for Israel's use. It has refused to issue permits for any Palestinian water infrastructure and destroys Palestinian infrastructure, For example,  in 2011, Israel demolished 89 Palestinian water-related structures. The settlers do not require permits and have unlimited water supplies, consuming, on average, 300 litres per person per day, compared with 70 litres per Palestinian per day in the West Bank. 

Israel extracts around half of the water available in the River Jordan, leading to a drop in the level of the Dead Sea. Palestinians living along in the Jordan Valley are not allowed access to the River Jordan, and are forced to buy water from tankers at 8 times the rate paid by Israelis. Meanwhile the extensive agriculture surrounding the settlements in the Jordan have plentiful water. 

Both Israel and Gaza extract water from the coastal aquifer under Gaza. The result is over-extraction and dangerous seepage of seawater and sewage into the water supply. 

The Palestinian Authority has to buy 50% of the water required for the West Bank from Mekorot, at much higher prices than charged to Israelis. In the summer, Israel reduces the amount of water available to the Palestinians - the Israeli supply is not affected.

Al Haq concludes that Israel has breached International Humanitarian Law by extensively and unlawfully appropriating Palestinian water resources.