CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VIII (2) ContEurVIII2 | Page 86

CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VIII (2)
Palestinian water rights, and a joint administrative body was created, the
Joint Water Committee (JWC), to coordinate the management of water
resources. 9
By the Oslo II Accord, the territory of the West Bank was divided
into three areas: Area A, 18% of the West Bank, entirely under the
Palestinian supervision; Area B, 21% of the territory of the West Bank,
where the administrative control was given to Palestine, whereas the
security of the territory was ensured by the Israeli military; and finally,
Area C, 61% of the West Bank, including the rest of the non-intermittent
part of the West Bank, under Israeli control both in terms of
administrative and security supervision. 10 Moreover, the territory of the
Jordan Valley also fell under these three divisions: Areas A, B and C.
Areas A and B consisted of only 8.4% of the Valley, and Area C
consisted of the rest of the Valley, where any Palestinian action (the
construction of wells, dams, etc.) was prohibited. It is noteworthy to
mention that Area C was mainly comprised of agricultural fertile lands
with abundant natural resources. 11
So far, the Israeli-Palestinian relations are strained and every
attempt to resolve the conflict, including water related issues, has failed.
Water Scarcity and Water Security
A series of studies indicate that water scarcity and the resulting
discrepancies can render conflict between states more likely. Thomas-
Homer Dixon is one of the first scholars who has attempted to shed light
on the link between resource, particularly water scarcity, and conflict. He
hypothesizes the fact that there is a significant causation between
resource scarcity and conflict, and that this environmental scarcity
inevitably leads to protracted conflict. 12
Given the permanent water problem in the Middle East, mainly due
to its arid climate, water scarcity has its impact on the regional security
dynamics, and for some regional countries, it is nothing more than an
issue of survival. 13 Furthermore, in the Middle East, where intrastate and
inter-state hostilities are endemic, the management of water resources is

9
Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip of 1995.
and Bunton, A History of the Modern Middle East.
11 Eran Feitelson, “The Ebb and Flow of Arab-Israeli Water Conflicts: Are Past
Confrontations Likely to Resurface?,” Water Policy 2, no. 4-5 (2000): 343-363.
12 Thomas Homer-Dixon, “Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict: Evidence from
Cases,” International Security 19, no. 1 (1994): 5-40.
13 Jan Selby, “The Geopolitics of Water in the Middle East: Fantasies and Realities,”
Third World Quarterly 26, no. 2 (2005): 329-349.
10 Cleveland
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