President Donald Trump's envoy to the Middle East, Jason Greenblatt, said at a July 13 joint press conference for Israeli and Palestinian representatives that "Water is a precious commodity in the Middle East. The US welcomes the agreement reached by the Palestinian Authority [PA] and the government of Israel, which will allow for the sale of 32 million cubic meters of water from Israel to the [PA]." The deal, which will allow Palestinians to purchase water at reduced rates, was made in the context of the Red Sea-Dead Sea canal project led by Israel and Jordan.
Also participating in the press conference, which took place in Jerusalem's King David Hotel, were Israeli Regional Cooperation Minister Tzahi Hanegbi and the head of the Palestinian Water Authority, Mazen Ghonaim. "This is the biggest, most ambitious project ever in our region," said Hanegbi.
It is hard to remember the last time that official representatives of Israel and the Palestinians sat together in such a festive setting to celebrate the turning of a new page in their relationship. "I hope that this is an indication of what is to come," said Greenblatt. Perhaps he was referring to the renewal of negotiations to reach a permanent resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As far as the Palestinians were concerned, it was important to emphasize that this water agreement will not impact any other future political negotiations. They do not want to let Israel claim in any future talks that the issue of water has already been resolved and there is no reason to discuss it further. "This is a regional agreement which has nothing to do with the core issues of any final agreement or the rights of Palestinians to water," said Ghonaim. He went on to say that the 32 million cubic meters of water that the Palestinians will be able to purchase at a reduced rate will be divided between the West Bank (22 million cubic meters) and Gaza (10 million cubic meters). "This will ease the suffering of our people in Gaza in particular," he explained, "since 97% of the water there is unusable."
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