The political climate in the Middle East makes it impossible to discuss water without addressing the political contexts that have shaped its availability.

All water resources in Palestine are shared, mainly with Israel. Shared water usually needs to be governed through agreements on allocation and use between the different parties.

Water resource access and distribution in the West Bank is decentralized and fragmented. Prior to the Oslo Accords and the establishment of the PWA, water distribution and administration were under the control of the West Bank Water Department (WBWD). Its role was to mediate between the Palestinian population as end users and Mekorot as the water supplier in the West Bank. Currently, WBWD is one of many institutions that supply water in the West Bank.

Regarding water resources and infrastructure development and management, the Oslo Accords were intended to give Palestinians greater access to water resources. Unfortunately, under the prevailing conditions, the PWA is not able to manage and develop its own water resources.

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 …

Deterioration of water quality in Palestine, especially in Gaza, is a key environmental challenge that requires urgent action. Groundwater resources are suffering due to infiltration of untreated wastewater from leakages in the infrastructure

The water crisis in Palestine cannot be presented in isolation from the political context, which continues to affect the economy, population, resource distribution and land ownership in the territories. However, because of the complexity of the issues and the limited scope of this report, the events that have impacted the water situation are only briefly discussed on this page …