Palestine: World Bank reports assesses restrictions on water development

Updated - Tuesday 28 April 2009

A World Bank report [1] blames Palestinian mismanagement and Israeli restrictions for severe water shortages in the West Bank and the Gaza. The existing problems affect not just daily supply but the development of water resources, water uses and wastewater management. ”Water related humanitarian crises are in fact chronic in Gaza and parts of the West Bank,” says the report.

For their water Palestinians are completely dependent on scarce resources controlled by Israel. This has led to “systematic and severe constraints on Palestinian development of water resources”, says the report, despite the joint governance rules and water allocations established under the 1995 Oslo interim peace agreement. But the report also lays part of the blame on the Palestinian Authority (PA) that is struggling to establish even a basic water infrastructure and management.

Israeli officials said the report was “grossly misleading” as Israel has a much more developed industrial sector which could skew the assessment. But in Gaza 150,000 Palestinians have no access to tap water at all, a report in the Palestine Telegraph says.

[1] World Bank (2009). “West Bank and Gaza : assessment of restrictions on Palestinian water sector development : sector note“. 154 p. Download here

Related news: Palestine: building of a desalination plant in Hadera contested, Source Weekly, 17 Mar 2009

Web sites: World Bank - West Bank & Gaza ; Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) ;

Source: BBC news, 20 Apr 2009 ; World Bank, 20 Apr 2009