International law, water rights and hydro-hegemony: The role of international law in Israel’s hydro-hegemony in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

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Abstract
After almost five decades of continuous occupation, Israel still controls water resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Water rights is one of the most contentious issues between Israeli and the Palestinians. It was specifically left out of the Oslo Agreements and was supposed to be dealt with in the final status negotiation, along with other important issues such as Jerusalem, refugees and borders. However, the final status negotiations which were supposed to start in 2000 did not take place due to political tensions. Currently, water relations between Israel and the Palestinians are governed by interim arrangements. A Joint Water Committee (JWC) was established pursuant to the Interim Agreement in order to co-ordinate the co-operation between both parties. Nevertheless, the Joint Committee has proven to be unsuccessful both in boosting the co-operation and addressing water rights inequalities between Israelis and Palestinians. Recently, the work of the JWC has been suspended. The status of the water sector in the OPT is dire. The Palestinian population of the OPT suffers of lack of access to adequate and clean amounts of water, and that which is available is well below the amounts recommended by the World Health Organisation. The main reasons for this situation are Israel’s policies and control over water resources in the OPT. These policies and continuous control have resulted in widespread violations of Palestinians’ water rights, as well as retrogressive impacts on the Palestinian economic sector. Israel’s position in regards to its control over water resources in the OPT has been described as one of hydro-hegemony. This thesis examines the role of relevant rules of international law in Israel’s hydro-hegemony in the OPT. In doing so, the analysis employs the theory of hydro-hegemony and examines its application and limitations in regards to the Palestinian context. It explores the role of relevant rules of international law in strengthening, or countering, Israeli hydro-hegemony in the OPT. In particular, the thesis examines the role of relevant rules of three branches of international law in relation to water rights; international humanitarian law, international human rights law and international water law. The thesis identifies whether and how these rules have been exploited or employed to feed into Israel’s hydro-hegemony in the OPT.
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Author(s)
Beshtawi, Ahmed
Supervisor(s)
Roux, Theunis
Billingsley, Anthony
Abu Eid, Abdallah
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Publication Year
2017
Resource Type
Thesis
Degree Type
PhD Doctorate
UNSW Faculty
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