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Water Crisis Looms as PA Refuses to Cooperate with Israel

(Ynet News) Itamar Eichner - The IDF has warned the international community that the water infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza will collapse because the Palestinian Authority refuses to cooperate with Israel. Maj.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), sent an urgent letter to the UN humanitarian aid coordinator in the West Bank, the heads of UNRWA, the Red Cross, and USAID, and the German, UK, Italian, French and EU ambassadors to Israel, noting that the Palestinians have refused to convene the joint Israeli-Palestinian water distribution council since 2010. He wrote that "the water infrastructure in place isn't enough to meet the needs of the population, leading to water shortages in certain areas (of the West Bank)." Moreover, "according to official estimates, there will be huge water shortages amounting to tens of millions of cubic meters of water in the coming years." At the same time, "waste water treatment (in the Palestinian Authority) is seriously lacking." "We are warning the international community that if there is no immediate change in the water situation, we can expect a water crisis by next summer....Mobilizing the international community to help us prevent this crisis is of the utmost importance."
2016-11-09 00:00:00
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