Annexation Causes Palestinians to Lose Water Source

Ramallah, MINA – Palestinians will lose between 550 to 600 cubic of water and an economic opportunity of US$ 3.5 billion if Israel truly annexes the West Bank and Jordan Valley.

The Head of the Palestinian Water Authority, Mazen Ghoneim, told Palestinian TV that the annexation would also cause a loss of 73,000 job opportunities, including the largest in the agricultural sector.

“If the annexation plan is carried out, it will increase import activities, weaken the contribution of national agricultural sector products and increase the number of unemployed people, especially for farmers,” Ghoneim said as quoted by Wafa on Thursday (July 2).

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Ghoneim explained Israel tried to postpone the agreement on water and move it to the final status issue to smooth out its plans to control all water sources in Palestine.

“At present, Israel controls more than 85 percent of Palestinian water resources, both underground and surface water,” he added.

Ghoneim detailed the average Palestinian only enjoys 83 liters of water per day, while Israeli settlers use at least 100 liters per day.

Even worse, Ghoneim continued residents in Gaza only enjoy 22 liters of water per day because 93 percent of the area is an aquifer beach that cannot be consumed by humans.

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Therefore, the Palestinian Water Authority is currently working on a water desalination plant project in Gaza to overcome the crisis. (T/R7/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)