The Israeli national water company Mekorot has reduced the daily amount of water supply to the provinces of Hebron and Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank by about 6,000 cups per day, today said the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA), which described the move as ‘racist’. PWA said the move deprives the people of their right to obtain sufficient amounts of water, especially in light of the sharp rise in temperatures. ‘There are no technical reasons behind this reduction,’ PWA said, adding that ‘no faults were detected in the supplying source, but rather it [the move] comes as a discriminatory measure that adds to the racist policies practiced by the occupation authorities.’ According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and the Palestinian Water Authority, the average Israeli per capita consumption of water is three times higher than the Palestinian per capita, with the Israeli share amounting to about 300 liters per day. This rate doubles for Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank to more than 7 times the Palestinian consumption per capita. Of note, the average Palestinian per capita consumption of water is less than the minimum internationally recommended amount, according to the standards of the World Health Organization, which is 100 liters per day, as a result of Israeli control over more than 85 percent of Palestinian water resources.
Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA