Ynet News  |  August 21, 2006

Israel to US: Fund Gaza Sewage Treatment

Israel requests from Germany, US to renew their financial support of special projects for waste treatment in Gaza and West Bank

By Amir Ben-David

The waste dumped from Gaza into the Mediterranean is polluting the water that arrives at the desalinization facility in Ashkelon, and much waste from the West Bank flows into rivers which bring the untreated waste into Israeli territory.

Promotion of the projects was halted when Hamas rose to power, but in the past few days National Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer has turned to the German and American ambassadors to request aid, which they have committed to provide in the past, for establishing a waste treatment facility.

Today, waste from Gaza flows directly into the sea, and with the current, to the water pump of the desalinization plant in Ashkelon. The water is pumped and then processed in various other treatments in order to clean it prior to desalinization.

Ben-Eliezer wrote to the German ambassador: "These projects are vital from a humanitarian perspective and can affect the environment in these regions."

Original article here.