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Summary
Palestinians voiced dismay over Israeli restrictions on water revealed in a report published on Tuesday by human rights group Amnesty International. In the West Bank village of Karmel, Palestinian farmer Ahmed Shawahin said that the only water available for irrigation is 'leftover' water from the nearby Jewish settlement.The report says Israel's daily water consumption per capita is four times higher than that in the Palestinian territories. Israel controls much of the West Bank's supplies, pumping from an aquifer that bridges Israel and the territory. Israel sells some water back to the Palestinians under quotas agreed in the 1993 Oslo Accords, which rights groups say have not been increased in line with population growth. Dr. Shabab Attili, head of Palestinian Water Authority told Reuters Palestinians limited access to clean water is a clear breach of international and humanitarian law. The report says that Gaza's coastal aquifer, its sole fresh water resource, has been polluted by infiltration of sea water and raw sewage and degraded by over-extraction.A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Amnesty's claim that Israel is depriving the Palestinians of water as preposterous.
