Israel violates Palestinian people’s right to water and sanitation

The Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations, Riyadh Mansour has said Israel continues to violate the Palestinian people’s right to water and sanitation by exploiting 90 per cent of the shared water sources for its own use, forcing Palestinians to survive on just 10 to 30 litres per day per capita, far below 100 litre daily minimum set by the World Health Organization (WHO). Speaking at the UN General Assembly debate on challenges to achieving the human right to water and sanitation in the context of the Millennium Development Goals, Mansur shed light on his country''s struggle to defend its people''s right to water and sanitation. Israel had not supported General Assembly resolution 64/292, which stated that clean drinking water and sanitation were integral to the realization of all human rights, said Mansour. On the contrary, Israel had destroyed several cisterns, wells and other water infrastructure, he said, urging the international community to ensure Israel respected the human right to clean water and sanitation; allocated shared water resources equitably and immediately stopped destroying Palestinian water and sanitation infrastructure, he added.