Villages near Bethlehem face water crisis

Seven villages near Bethlehem are suffering from a water crisis with no running water for more than 15 days, Palestinian officials have announced. According to the Bethlehem Joint services Council for Planning and Development, Israel's National Water Company (Mekorot) which the Palestinian government purchases from, has ignored the area's increase in population for 25 years, which has now reached 30,000. The Palestinian Authority, only able to use 20% of West Bank water resources under a 1995 agreement with Israel, is forced to buy extra supplies from Israel's Mekorot, the Emergency Water, Sanitation and Hygiene group says. Bethlehem Joint services Council Chair Khader Hamdan called on the Palestinian water and environment authorities to press Israel for increased water allocation, as well as to update the water distribution network in the area.