Japan commits $20m to improve water supply in Jenin 

A memorandum of understanding has been signed by Japan and Palestine, committing the former to pay $20 million to support a project to improve the drinking water supply in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, Wafa has reported. The MoU was formalised at Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh’s office in line with global efforts to ensure the availability of safe drinking water for Jenin’s resident.

The funding will help the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) to undertake various initiatives in Jenin, including the rehabilitation of water resource facilities, the construction of water distribution systems, the establishment of effective water distribution zones, and the expansion of the distribution network.

Shtayyeh expressed his appreciation to the government of Japan for their support for Palestine. He said that this unwavering commitment plays a pivotal role in Palestinian resilience and further strengthens the bilateral relations between the two nations. The PA official emphasised that this financial aid has been designated exclusively to improve the well-being of the Palestinian population in Jenin and will be administered by the PWA.

An advisor to the prime minister, Estephan Salama, announced that work can now begin on the project. It is expected to increase the individuals benefiting from water supply networks from the current 81 per cent to 98 per cent of the local population. Moreover, it will reduce water losses substantially, from 60 per cent to 25 per cent, ultimately extending the project’s coverage to over 70,000 residents of Jenin by 2030.

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Palestinian Water Minister Mazen Ghunaim also expressed his gratitude to the Japanese government for this support. He explained that this project arose out of the first phase, which began in 2017 at a cost $5 million.

“We look forward to further cooperation with the Japanese government in the water sector because water in Palestine is not only a basic service and a government priority, but also a political issue. The Israeli occupation controls more than 85 per cent of the water sources in Palestine and controls the fate of our people,” said Ghunaim. “Hence, these projects come so that we can use every drop of water and remain steadfast on our land and face all Israeli measures.”

In the herding communities of the northern Jordan Valley, Palestinian water consumption is just 26 litres a day. That is so far below the World Health Organisation’s minimum standard of 50-100 litres that it is ranked as a disaster zone, according to Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem. In contrast, illegal Israeli settlers in the Jordan Valley consume an average of 400-700 litres per capita a day.

Over the past two years alone, the Israeli occupation authorities have demolished nearly 160 Palestinian reservoirs, sewage networks and wells across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the UN OCHA. The rate of demolition is quickening: In the first half of this year, the occupation authorities knocked down almost the same number of Palestinian water installations as they did in all of last year.

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