2025-08-28
Water for palestine
By Dr Tamimi Abdel Rahmne with Michelle Sheather, Australian Greens International Development Coordinator
The Australian Government has finally decided to recognise Palestine, following a groundswell of protests and support throughout the community. However, real change is still needed on the ground right now.
The death toll in Gaza since October 2023 now devastatingly amounts to at least 63,000 people and over 160,000 more injured – in a population of 1.3 million people.
In Israel's bombings, hospitals and water infrastructure are being deliberately targeted. Meanwhile, Israel continues to rapidly expand settlements in the Golan Heights and the occupied territories of the West Bank.
It will take over ten years for Gaza to recover if it will ever be rebuilt to the level it was before. Many Palestinians will not be able to continue living under such conditions – driving even more people from their homeland.
The Palestinian Green Party highlights the international community can assist through:
- Exerting pressure by diplomatic and civil means to end the war in Gaza and to stop the killings.
- Forcing Israel to let food and water into Gaza unabated.
- Stopping the two-way arms trade with Israel.
THE CONTROL OF WATER
On December 8th last year, Israel completed its occupation of the entire Golan Heights following the collapse of the political regime in Syria, taking control of the sources of the Jordan River and the Yarmouk River.
This reignited discussions about the Arab–Israeli conflict over water resources, proving that Israel’s expansionist ambitions — including the control of water sources — are no longer a speculative concern, but a concrete reality backed by the behavior of the occupation.
Israel’s measures to control water resources in the occupied Palestinian territories, and its insistence on postponing the water issue in the Oslo negotiations to the final-status stage, are conclusive evidence that Israel aimed to gain time to integrate the Palestinian water sector into its vision for the future of the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Control over water sources and the licensing of well drilling remained under the authority of the Israeli military administration. The Palestinian Authority's role was thus limited to distribution and service management.
Following its 1967 occupation, Israel seized all the sources of the Jordan River, Lake Tiberias in the north, and the groundwater basins in the West Bank and Gaza. It replaced existing laws with military orders that limited Palestinians’ ability to use and develop their water resources. Usage levels remained the same — or even less than before the occupation.
With settlement expansion, water consumption by settlers has soared — on average, settlements use six times the amount of water available to Palestinians. Settlements also pollute Palestinian land and water sources, either by discharging untreated wastewater or by using Palestinian agricultural lands as dumps for solid waste.
The Asia-Pacific Greens Federation is supporting an initiative to get bottled water to Palestinians, powered by solar energy, from clean drinking wells inside Palestine. You can donate here to help us reach our $20,000 goal.
Donate to Water For Palestine Initiative
People are drinking highly polluted water and therefore suffer waterborne diseases. In some cases, people have been drinking sewage.
There is additionally the issue of the fair distribution of water in the midst of a famine and drinking water crisis caused by the Israeli attacks, and the deliberate withholding of water to those in Gaza.
The Asia-Pacific Greens Federation calls on Green parties around the world to call for the basic human right of access to drinking water for all in Gaza. This initiative should transcend national boundaries.
Read the Australian Greens' statement on justice and human rights in Palestine and Israel here.