Amnesty International has accused Israel of denying Palestinians the right to adequate access to water, while maintaining total control of the shared water resources and implementing discriminatory policies, designed to limit the availability of water and prevent the development of water infrastructure operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
"Israel allow the Palestinians access to only a small part of the shared water resources, which are mostly in the occupied West Bank, where instead of illegal settlements settlers receive virtually unlimited supply. In Gaza, the Israeli blockade has made worse an already dire situation that was "- said Donatella Rovera,
Amnesty International's researcher on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
In a comprehensive new report, Amnesty International shows the extent to which the Israeli policies and practices denying the Palestinians their right to access to water. Israel uses more than 80 percent of the water of the Mountain Aquifer, the largest reserves of underground water in the area, and restricts Palestinian access only 20 percent.
The Mountain Aquifer is the only resource for Palestinians in the West Bank, but only one of the many available to Israel, which takes for itself all the available water of the Jordan River.
While the daily consumption of water for the Palestinians barely reaches 70 liters per person is higher than that of the Israeli 300 liters, four times more. In some rural areas the Palestinians survive with only 20 liters per day, the minimum amount recommended for domestic use in emergencies.
From 180,000 to 200,000 Palestinians who live in rural communities have no access to running water and the Israeli army often prevents them from even to collect rainwater. In contrast, Israeli settlers who live in the West Bank in violation of international law, have farms with intensive irrigation, manicured gardens and swimming pools: 450,000 Israeli settlers use the same, if not greater amount of water, compared to 2,300,000 palestinesi.Nella Gaza Strip, the 90-95 per cent of the water the only source of water present, the coastal aquifer, is contaminated and unfit for human consumption. Moreover, Israel does not allow the transfer of water from the Mountain Aquifer of the West Bank to Gaza. The strict prohibitions imposed by Israel in recent years at the entrance to Gaza of materials and equipment necessary for the development and repair infrastructure, have caused further deterioration of water and health situation in Gaza has reached a dramatic level.
To cope with water shortages and lack of distribution facilities, many Palestinians are forced to buy water from portable tanks, often of dubious quality and higher prices.
Others resort to various measures to save money, threatening their health and their families and hinder the socio-economic development. "In over 40 years of occupation, the restrictions imposed by Israel of Palestinian access to water prevented the development of infrastructure and water services in the occupied Palestinian territory, thereby denying hundreds of thousands of people the right to live a normal life, to have enough food, shelter, health and economic development "- said Donatella Rovera.
Israel has appropriated large areas of Palestinian land rich in water, and by prohibiting occupying access to the Palestinians. He also imposed a complex system of permits that the Palestinians must obtain from the armed forces and other Israeli authorities to carry out water projects in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Israel has appropriated large areas of Palestinian land rich in water, and by prohibiting occupying access to the Palestinians. He also imposed a complex system of permits that the Palestinians must obtain from the armed forces and other Israeli authorities to carry out water projects in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Such requests are often refused or suffer long delays. I restrictions imposed by Israel on the movement of people and goods to further exacerbate the difficulties that Palestinians face when trying to complete water projects and health, or just when they want to distribute small amounts of acqua.Il fact that the tanks are forced to lengthen the route to avoid the checkpoints by the Israeli army and the roads are closed to Palestinian causes an excessive increase in the price of water . In rural areas, Palestinian farmers struggling to get enough water for their basic needs, as the Israeli army often destroyed or confiscated cisterns to collect rainwater for irrigation. Instead, in the nearby Israeli settlements, plant irrigate fields in the midday sun, when most water is lost even before reaching the evaporating suolo.In some Palestinian villages, Because they have no access to water, the farmers are unable to cultivate land or to produce small amounts of food for their livelihood or as feed for animals and are therefore forced to reduce the number of herds.
"Water is a commodity and a fundamental right but also have a minimum amount of water and poor has become a luxury that many Palestinians can barely afford" - said Rovera.
"Israel must end its discriminatory policies, immediate lifting of all restrictions it imposes on Palestinian access to water, take responsibility for addressing the problems it has created and grant the Palestinians a fair allocation of shared water resources. "
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This new report is part of the global campaign" Demand Dignity ", launched by Amnesty International in May this year to demand an end to violations of human rights that create and exacerbate poverty. The campaign is mobilizing people all over the world to demand that governments and businesses listen to the voices of those living in poverty and respect their rights.
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