Palestine

Palestinians Request Emergency Aid for Drought
Reuters, May 12, 1999

Palestinian officials said on Wednesday they had requested $40 million in foreign aid to compensate for damages caused by a drought this year. ... The money would be used primarily to purchase livestock feed and build water tanks, the officials said. Agriculture Minister Hikmet Zeid said at Tuesday's donor meeting that the Palestinian Authority would sell the feed to farmers at half price and waive the 17 percent value added tax. Najm said indications were good the emergency aid would be granted. The head of research in the Agriculture Ministry, Shaker Judeh, estimated the drought would cause $253.3 million in damage, mostly to livestock and olives, a major cash crop in the West Bank. Judeh said the region had received less than half of the rainfall of the previous two years, dropping to the lowest level in decades.

Unequal Water Distribution, Shortages Dry Up West Bank
Associated Press, June 28, 2000

Yatta Mayor Khalil Younis said town residents consume just 18 liters (4.5 gallons) of water per person per day - less than one-fifth the minimum water allowance recommended by the World Health Organization. The average Israeli consumes about 300 liters (75 gallons) of water per day for household use. The Israeli human rights group Betselem says the average Palestinian consumes one-fifth the water used by his Israeli counterpart, though Israel puts the ratio at 1:3. The situation is similarly harsh in the Gaza Strip, where overflowing septic systems pollute the aquifer and overpumping allows sea water to seep in. ... Israel has cut water to farmers by 40 percent and is considering an emergency purchase of water from Turkey. Both sides are developing desalination projects. Water experts complain that Israel subsidizes water-intensive crop exports like mangos, citrus fruit and avocados - effectively exporting water the region doesn't have.