The Israeli-Palestinian War Issues - Research Paper Example

However, today Israel denies Palestine access to these amenities such as clean and safe water. Israel has been reported to introduce a crisis in the sewerage system and water management (Library Information and Research Service ‘a’ 347). Israel uses about 300 million liters of water daily while Palestine only has access to about 70 million liters of water daily. It has also been reported that to some extent, some Palestinians only have access to 20 liters of water daily. Moreover, West Bank and Gaza Palestinians do not have the authority to dig wells or own water tankers.

Israel has also set quotas guiding the Palestinians on the amount of water they are supposed to draw from existing wells. While on the other hand, Israel has put up swimming and green garden facilities (Châtel 38-142). Furthermore, even though Israel has access to about 3% of River Jordan as per the pre-1967 borders, Israel uses the majority of the water. This is because it has blocked Palestine from gaining access to river Jordan by constructing National Water Carriers that divert approximately one-quarter of the water Israel consumes.

It has also been noted that Mekorot Israel Water Company closes down valves that supply water to Palestinians when the water supplies are low. This prevents Israel from being affected by the decrease in water supply. As if this is not enough Israel also steals water from the Palestinian West Bank water supply and sells it back to the Palestinians at an inflated rate. This is because there is no rule governing water production in Palestine (Shuval & Dwiek 163-197). Palestine also has access to water that is unhygienic as it is mixed with wastewater and sewage.

This is because Israel only allows about three of the 80 trucks which have spare parts to enter Gaza and the West Bank a fact that has greatly contributed to the deteriorating quality of water that Palestinians have access to (Shuval & Dwiek 137). Thus one is left to wonder what rights Israel has to manage water crucially needed by the Palestinian people. According to international law, it is illegal for Israel to use and adamantly own water that lies in the Palestine territories. Therefore Israel; has no right whatsoever to exploit Palestinian water for the benefit of its citizens to the extent of discriminating the Palestine citizens. This law also stipulates that Israel should pay Palestine for its continuous use of Palestine's water recourses and the losses Palestine has incurred from poor farming (Library Information and Research Service ‘b’ 323).