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Rawabi water supply agreed, opening new Palestinian city
A dispute over water supply has been resolved, paving the way for the first residents to move into Rawabi, the first purpose-built Palestinian city in the West Bank.
Situated northwest of Ramallah in an area under Israeli military control, Rawabi is the first planned urban centre for Palestinians and will include homes for 40,000 people and facilities such as shopping centres and cinemas.
However, hundreds of Palestinian who had purchased homes in Rawabi were unable to move in as the city lacked running water owing to a bureaucratic dispute. Technically, water and sewage projects in the West Bank are handled by the Israeli-Palestinian Joint Water Committee, formed as part of the Oslo Accords, which has not met in five years. Infrastructure Minister Silvan Shalom, who oversees water issues insisted that the body must approve Rawabi’s water. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office intervened and ordered that Rawabi be connected to the water network following reported pressure from Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai.
The US State Department reacted positively to the development. According to the Jerusalem Post, spokesperson Edgar Vasquez said, “We are looking forward to the Rawabi complex receiving the water it needs to function … We support all efforts to improve the investment climate and generate greater prosperity and opportunity for Palestinians and Israelis.”
Meanwhile, a dispute over electricity supply to Palestinian West Bank cities has also been at least temporarily resolved. Last week, the Israel Electricity Corporation (IEC) briefly cut power in both Nablus and Jenin. The IEC provides electricity to Palestinian territories in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but is owed an estimated £305 million by the Palestinian Authority (PA). The IEC cut power for 45 minutes due to the debt. An agreement has been reached that Israel’s government will transfer some of the tax funds it collects on behalf of the PA to the IEC in order to cover part of the debt.