Access to Water

Water has become a major concern in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Israeli authority’s policy has been, and remains, to limit the overall amount of water available to the Palestinian population, while preserving for itself privileged access to most of the water and land in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

About 10 per cent of the Palestinian population in the occupied West Bank, that is more than 200,000 people in some 220 villages, are not permitted to link to the water system and thus rely on cisterns, wells or buying water at six times the cost of piped water.

Meanwhile, Israeli settlers who live in nearby unlawful settlements have ample water.

  • 70 litres per day – Palestinians consumption in the opt
  • 300 litres per day- Israelis consumption in Occupied Palestinian Territories
  • 180-200,000 west bank Palestinians have no access to running water.
  • 90-95% of only water resource in Gaza unfit for human consumption.
  • 1/3 of available water lost through leakage.
  • 10% GDP (110,000 jobs lost)-the agricultural opportunity lost due to water shortages.

The consequences for public health are enormous with the majority of the water unsafe to drink and sewerage spilling out onto the streets. Both Palestinian and international aid efforts to improve access to water have been continually hampered by the Israeli government’s complex system of permits. This serves to severely restrict the Palestinians ability of attaining any decent standard of living.

Amnesty International is calling for:

  • Israel to end its actions and policies, which have served to restrict the availability of water and to allow for the construction of sanitation and water infrastructure

Further Reading:

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