RAMALLAH, September 23, 2012 (WAFA) – The Water Authority report, published Sunday, highlighted the severe water shortages and acute water quality problems which continue to negatively affect the lives and livelihoods of millions of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

PWA report, titled ‘Palestinian Water Sector: Status Summary Report, Sept. 2012,’ will be distributed to members of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) meeting in New York on Sunday.

It stated that these problems are not caused by environmental factors, but attributable to the discriminatory water policies and practices Israel has instituted across the occupied Palestinian Territory over the last forty five years.

“While customary international water law calls for all such trans-boundary freshwater resources to be shared “equitably and reasonably,” Israel currently exploits over 90 per cent of these resources for exclusive Israeli use, including for use in Israeli settlements, and allocates less than 10 per cent for Palestinian use,” It said.

The report covered main topics such as: water shortages in the West Bank, poor water quality in Gaza, Using the Joint Water Committee to consolidate illegal Israeli settlements, ICA Permits: prohibiting Palestinian development of Area C, and using water as a weapon: Israeli demolitions of Palestinian wells and cisterns.

M.H./F.R.

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