Under the current conditions of occupation and poverty, Palestinians are struggling to develop and maintain even the most basic water infrastructure and services. Israel, on the other hand, has a very efficient water resource management system and highly sophisticated infrastructure.
An additional inequity between the Palestinians and Israelis and a severe limitation to the development of water infrastructure relates to financial resources. While Israel is able to independently fund infrastructure projects that it decides to implement unilaterally (outside the framework of the Oslo II Accord and the requirements for pre-approval by the Joint Water Committee [JWC]), the Palestinian Authority does not have this option. The Palestinian state is almost totally dependent on international donations to fund any infrastructure development project. International donors see their role in funding Palestinian development in the context of the Oslo Accords (i.e. supporting the “peace process”). As a result, they will only provide funding if the projects have first been approved by the JWC.[i]
[i] Selby, J., 2013. ‘Cooperation, Domination and Colonialism: The Israeli-Palestinian Joint Water Committee’ Water Alternatives, vol. 6(1): 1-24. Available at: http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/volume6/v6issue1/196-a6-1-1/file, accessed 20 April 2015.