THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN RESOLVING PALESTINIAN/ISRAELI WATER CONFLICT

ABSTRACT: Palestinian/Israeli Water conflict is a major threat to sound and sustainable peace in the Middle East. This paper addresses the question of how the international law could be employed to achieve an integrative arrangement of mutual benefit to the parties in conflict, despite the fact that the conflict situation involves fixed resources for which both sides are competing. A quick assessment of strengths and weaknesses of the current declarations and agreements was made investigating their potential as a point of departure for future permanent agreements. The challenging issue here is how the parties could negotiate the agreement irrespective of their power relations with the notion that there can be role for international law principles to be applied within this context. The paper starts by describing the current utilization of the international watercourses and follows on by an analysis to the existing declarations and agreements and their reference to international law and finally assesses the role of International Law in solving the conflict. As a precondition, the parties should agree on common objective criteria in their efforts to conclude a water treaty. It is recommended that a more in-depth revision of the style of negotiations is undertaken in an attempt to give momentum for the currently quasi-frozen negotiation process. Furthermore, there is a need for mutual conscious to the need for appropriate co-operation on the utilisation of the shared resources in an optimal manner for the present as well as for future generations. The future water agreement may well go beyond the borders of reallocating water between the legitimate Watercourse States by setting forth the bases for continued co-operation to develop and implement common projects and plans. KEY TERMS: International watercourses, equitable and reasonable utilisation, regional cooperatio