RAMALLAH, West Bank — After a seven-year hiatus, the Israeli-Palestinian Joint Water Committee (JWC), established under Article 40 of the 1995 Oslo Accord, resumed its meetings May 16. A new mechanism was developed to accelerate the implementation of infrastructure projects — such as supply lines, tanks, water and sewage networks, water pumping stations and treatment plants — in many Palestinian areas in the West Bank.
The JWC reconvened in execution of an agreement signed Jan. 15 between Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories, and Palestinian Authority Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh, with the participation of the heads of the Israeli and Palestinian water authorities.
The JWC was formed under the 1995 Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement that sought to regulate water issues during the interim period (1995-99). However, in light of the failure to reach a final agreement, the JWC, whose term was supposed to expire in 1999, has yet to be dissolved. The committee's main objective is to approve and oversee every new water and wastewater project in the West Bank, excluding the Jordan River. It is composed of an equal number of delegates representing the Israeli and the Palestinian water authorities, and the implementation of any water project in the West Bank requires the consent of both parties to this committee. Therefore, the Palestinians must obtain the JWC’s prior approval on any water project, such as water extraction in the aquifers and any other water-related projects. However, they also need additional permits from the Israeli civil administration before embarking on any works in Area C of the West Bank. This measure, however, does not apply to the Israelis.
Under the 1995 Interim Agreement, the Gaza Strip was considered a separate water sector and thus Gazan authorities were held solely responsible for meeting the residents’ needs using only sources located within Gaza’s borders and the small quantities that Israel pledged to sell them, without being able to use water from the West Bank.
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