Environment News Service April 2, 2002
The Israelis and the Palestinians each blame the other for the violence that has consumed the region with renewed ferocity since September 2000. Each side sees itself as the victim. The convoluted conflict which has its origin in Biblical times is created in part by the arid nature of the disputed lands.
Dwindling water resources increasingly affected by pollution, agricultural and industrial use and population growth, have elevated the strategic importance of water in the region. The water issue is at the root of the struggle over territory.
The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) complains that Israel controls the sources of water and one third of West Bank inhabitants have only intermittent water supplies. Israel has complete control over water resources in the West Bank and uses 82 percent of the underground water, the PNA says.
Palestinians in the West Bank are charged three times as much per unit of water as Israeli settlers.
The Israeli newspaper, "Ha'aretz," reported that more than half a million of the Palestinian inhabitants in the West Bank have not consistently received water for more than two months.
The yearly Israeli consumption of water is 12 million cubic meters. The Palestinian National Authority says "this 12 million cubic meters is the percentage of deficiency that cities in Gaza lack."
The Israelis and the Palestinians each blame the other for the violence that has consumed the region with renewed ferocity since September 2000. Each side sees itself as the victim. The convoluted conflict which has its origin in Biblical times is created in part by the arid nature of the disputed lands.
Dwindling water resources increasingly affected by pollution, agricultural and industrial use and population growth, have elevated the strategic importance of water in the region. The water issue is at the root of the struggle over territory.
The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) complains that Israel controls the sources of water and one third of West Bank inhabitants have only intermittent water supplies. Israel has complete control over water resources in the West Bank and uses 82 percent of the underground water, the PNA says.
Palestinians in the West Bank are charged three times as much per unit of water as Israeli settlers.
The Israeli newspaper, "Ha'aretz," reported that more than half a million of the Palestinian inhabitants in the West Bank have not consistently received water for more than two months.
The yearly Israeli consumption of water is 12 million cubic meters. The Palestinian National Authority says "this 12 million cubic meters is the percentage of deficiency that cities in Gaza lack."