Aqeel: Israel is violating all international laws and agreements and working to deny the Palestinians their right to access water

Islam Fawqi: The occupation is destroying the natural resources in Palestine, especially the water resources

Foundation condemned Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights (Egypt)The Israeli policies that work to destroy the vital infrastructure and infrastructure of the Palestinians, including pipelines supplying drinking water, sewage networks and electricity networks, and the demolition of water wells, which constitute a serious threat to the right to life. And that was during the intervention that I made today in Geneva before the United Nations Human Rights Council, on the sidelines of the work of the 42nd session of the Council.

Ayman Aqil, head of Maat Foundation, affirmed that since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian lands, it has violated all international laws, agreements and UN resolutions, and violated the right to life of the Palestinian people through the policies and practices that it undertakes in the exploitation of water resources. And the deprivation of the Palestinians of the right to obtain drinking water and to extract other natural resources, which made the Palestinians unable to access their own water resources in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Aqeel added that water has become a powerful symbol of the systematic violation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The head of the Maat Foundation explained that more than 96% of coastal groundwater in Gaza have become unfit for human use, and it is the main source of water for the residents of Gaza, and Aqeel also emphasized that the natural and mineral wealth from the Dead Sea, part of which is located in the occupied Palestinian territory, is being used by Israel for its benefit. Especially as Palestinians are denied access to these resources.

For his part, Islam Fawki, Director of the Policy Analysis Unit at the Maat Foundation, said that the Israeli occupation sought to comprehensively destroy the natural resources in Palestine, especially water sources. Although the West Bank sits on three water basins, which constitute the main source of water in Palestine, the Israeli occupation controls and imposes them. Palestinian citizens are required to consume only 15% from the total water reserve, including the springs within the Palestinian territories. Fawqi pointed out that the Israeli occupation worked on draining and seizing more than 300 natural springs and more than 500 wells, in addition to what was isolated from underground wells behind the apartheid wall.