Tuesday, 27 October 2009
A human rights watchdog on Tuesday accused Israel of denying Palestinians the right to receive sufficient water supplies and pursuing discriminatory policies.
In an extensive report, Amnesty International revealed the extent to which Israel's discriminatory water policies and practices are denying Palestinians their right to water access.
It said Israel was "maintaining total control over the shared water resources," while its daily water consumption per capita was four times higher than that in the Palestinian territories.
"Israel allows the Palestinians access to only a fraction of the shared water resources, which lie mostly in the occupied West Bank, while the unlawful Israeli settlements there receive virtually unlimited supplies. In Gaza the Israeli blockade has made an already dire situation worse," Amnesty official Donatella Rovera said.
"Israel must end its discriminatory policies, immediately lift all the restrictions it imposes on Palestinians' access to water, and take responsibility for addressing the problems it created by allowing Palestinians a fair share of the shared water resources."
A spokesman for the Israeli prime minister dismissed Amnesty's allegations as "preposterous."
"Israel supplied Palestinians 20.8 million cubic liters above and beyond what it is obliged to do under the water agreement," The Haaretz quoted Mark Regev as saying.
