Israel controls Palestinian water resources

Israel controls water resources in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and seeks to take over water reserves in the Golan Heights and southern Lebanon, according to an Arab League report released on Sunday.

[...] It said the average amount of water used by Israel is estimated at about two billion cubic meters, of which 65% comes from the West Bank, Gaza, southern Lebanon and the Syrian Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967.

[...] Despite the limited water resources in the Palestinian territories, Israel seized more than 80% of them, the report said.

Moreover, there are 850 million cubic meters of water available in the West Bank and Gaza Strip annually, but the Palestinians do not use more than 120 million cubic meters as the Israeli government divert their water.

The average individual in Israel consumes water seven times more than the Palestinians, the report said, stressing that resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was linked to the water issue.

"Israel takes 500 million cubic meters annually from water reserves in the West Bank, which accounts for approximately one third of Israel's consumption", the study said, adding that the West Bank separation barrier allowed Israel to seize more of Palestinian water resources, as they are now annexed to Israeli boundaries.