Public water networks are considered the main source of clean water supply for residential units in the northern and southern governorates, while the secondary sources of water are wells and springs. The Israeli company Mekorot is one of the largest suppliers of water to the Palestinian water networks in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but it sells water that stems from the West Bank.i According to information given in 2012 by the Palestinian Water Authority and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the amount of water purchased from Mekorot amounted to about 52.6 million cubic meters in the northern governorates and 4 million cubic meters in the southern governorates. In the governorates other than Jericho and Qalqilya, this amount is not sufficient for daily use when compared to the quantity set as a minimum per capita by the World Health Organization. While Mekorot is limiting the amount of the water for Palestinians, settlers in the West Bank receive an unlimited water supply.ii
Map and caption courtesy of Palestinian
Ministry of Planning.
i . Amnesty International, Troubled Waters-Palestinians Denied Fair Access To Water, 2009.
ii . Betsellem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, Water Crisis: Discriminatory water supply, March 2014.
