[News] Israel's suspension of West Bank water supplies 'inhumane and outrageous'

[Anti-Imperialist News]

*Israel's suspension of West Bank water supplies 'inhumane and outrageous'*


June 16, 2016 2:24 P.M. - http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=771901


BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- The Palestinian Prime Minister’s office on Thursday 
slammed Israel’s decision to cut off water supplies for tens of 
thousands of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank this week as 
“inhumane and outrageous.”

Rami Hamdallah issued a statement in response to the move by Israel’s 
national water company Mekorot, which saw water supplies suspended in 
the municipality of Jenin, several villages in Nablus, as well as the 
city of Salfit and its surrounding villages.

“Israel wants to prevent Palestinians from leading a dignified life and 
uses its control over our water resources to this end; while illegal 
Israeli settlements enjoy uninterrupted water service,” Hamdallah said. 
“Palestinians are forced to spend great sums of money to buy water that 
is theirs in the first place.”

Israelis, including settlers, have access to 300 liters of water per 
day, according to EWASH, while the West Bank average is around 70 
liters, below the World Health Organization's recommended minimum of 100 
liters per day for basic sanitation, hygiene and drinking.

Director of Communications at the Prime Minister’s Office Jamal Dajani 
called Mekorot’s decision “inhumane and outrageous.”

The move to deprive the villages of access to safe drinking water was 
seen as especially outrageous, as Palestinian Muslims celebrated the 
holy month of Ramadan, which entered its second week on Tuesday.

Some areas reportedly had not received water for more than 40 days, 
according Al Jazeera.

In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for Israel’s 
Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) told 
Ma’an that due to increased rates of water consumption in the summer, 
water flow “is regulated.”

Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq estimated in a 2013 report that up 
to 50 percent of Palestinian water supplies are diverted by Mekorot over 
the summer months to meet the consumption needs of Israel’s illegal 
settlements.

COGAT added that a Civil Administration team repaired a burst pipe line 
on Thursday, which had disrupted the water supply to the villages of 
Marda and Biddya in Salfit, Salfit city, the Tapuach area in Salfit, as 
well as the village of Jammain in Nablus. “The water flow has been 
regulated and is currently up and running,” they added.

COGAT also claimed that water supply had in fact been increased in the 
evenings to meet the needs of those observing Ramadan, who fast 
throughout the day.

The spokesperson added that “despite the difficulties,” Israel, through 
its Joint Water Committee (JWC) works to improve water infrastructure in 
the occupied West Bank, while Palestinians “don’t cooperate for the 
improvement of the water flow in the region.”

According to Al-Haq, JWC holds complete decision-making power over the 
coordinated joint management and development of all water resources in 
the West Bank.

The establishment of JWC more than two decades ago “should have been a 
positive reform for Palestinians,” Al-Haq wrote. However, their report 
notes that the consensus system enables Israel to veto any proposal by 
Palestinians to maintain existing water infrastructure or build new 
projects.

Just half of Palestinian proposals for wells and improvement projects to 
the water network were approved by Israel between 1995 and 2008, 
compared to a 100 percent approval rate for Israeli projects, a study 
cited in the report found.

According to Amnesty international, nearly 200,000 Palestinians in the 
West Bank do not have access to running water.

“Israel is waging a water war against Palestinians,” Dajani said. “It is 
not enough for Israel to systematically appropriate Palestinian land and 
usurp Palestine’s natural resources; they also refuse the Palestinians 
the right to water.”

-- 
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