A/HRC/25/38 V. Impact of Israeli settlements and settler violence on the economic and social rights of Palestinians Access to land and water 21. Settlements occupy a sizeable part of Palestinian land, making it impossible for Palestinians to develop or maintain their natural resources in any meaningful or sustainable manner. Of the land in the West Bank, 43 per cent has been allocated to settlements.72 This situation, coupled with the fact that Israel has responsibility for planning and zoning throughout Area C, greatly hampers the exercise by Palestinians of a wide range of economic and social rights (see paras. 15-20 above). 22. Israel controls all sources of water in the West Bank and effectively prevents Palestinians from adequately maintaining or developing water resources. Israel obtains approximately a third of the water it uses from the Jordan River,73 while Palestinians are denied access to the riverbanks. Israel also extracts a significant portion of its water from the Mountain Aquifer, the largest water resource in the region.74 23. The Israel national water company, Mekorot, owns all water supply systems in the West Bank and supplies approximately 50 per cent of the water available to Palestinian communities. Mekorot reportedly significantly reduces the Palestinian water supply during the summer months, in order to meet consumption needs in Israel and in the settlements. 75 One emblematic example is that of the village of Kufr al-Deek, near Ariel, one of the largest Israeli settlements in the West Bank. When supplies of water are low in the summer months, Mekorot closes the valves that supply Kufr al-Deek so as not to affect Ariel’s water supply. Ariel also discharges wastewater inappropriately, resulting in contamination of the spring wells on which residents of Kufr al-Deek rely both for drinking water and for agriculture.76 24. Because of these severe water cuts and the limited coverage of the water network in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, many Palestinian communities are forced to purchase water delivered by water tankers at a cost which is reportedly eight times or more what settlers are paying. This is the case even though much of the water may have originally been extracted from Palestinian sources.77 Israeli settlers consume a daily average of 369 litres of water for domestic use, while Palestinians have access to only 70 litres per person per day.78 According to the World Health Organization, 100 litres or more per person per day provides optimal access, whereas between 50 and 100 litres of water per person per day are needed to ensure that most basic needs are met and few health concerns arise.79 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 A/68/513, para. 36. Al Haq, Water factsheet 1: “Geography and hydrology of water Resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” (22 March 2013). Ibid. A/HRC/22/63, para. 84; A/61/500/Add.1, para. 29. Palestinian Hydrology Group, “Wastewater from Ariel settlement pollutes Palestinian water supply in Salfit” (2010). The water purchased from contractors costs as much as three times the highest price of water for household consumption in Tel Aviv. See www.btselem.org/water/restrictions_in_area_c. A/68/513, para. 38. See OHCHR, Human Rights Fact Sheet No. 35, “The right to water”, available from www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/FactSheet35en.pdf . See also World Health Organization, “Domestic water quantity, service level and health” (2003), available from: www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/diseases/WSH03.02.pdf. 11