Water resources

Palestinian domestic water supply averages 50 – 70 litres per capita per day (lpcd). The World Health Organisation recommends that minimum water supply be 100 lpcd to ensure good health and hygiene practices. Israeli domestic consumption averages 280 lpcd. In Tubas district (West Bank) average consumption for 48,000 Palestinians is 30 lpcd. In Beka’ot settlement (12km south of Tubas) residents consume around 401 lpcd.

In 1967, Israel seized control of all water resources in the newly occupied territories. Israel retains exclusive control over all the water resources between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, except for a small section of the coastal aquifer in the Gaza Strip. Israel uses the water as it sees fit, ignoring the needs of Palestinians in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, subjecting them to a mostly man-made water shortage. Neither area is supplied enough water. In Gaza, even the water that is supplied is substandard and not potable.