Twice as much

"Up to 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank produce an estimated 56 million cubic metres of sewage per year, compared with 17.5 million by the 400,000 settlers – almost double the volume of sewage per head that Palestinians produce.

Human rights groups have warned about unfair water distribution in the West Bank, saying the existing policy favoured the settlers over the Palestinians.

The report was the second by the Israeli authorities on stream monitoring, but, said experts, was far more comprehensive than the one released last year.

The main problem was a lack of infrastructure for treating sewage in the West Bank, the report found.

Palestinians have long complained that the options presented to them by the Israelis for building treatment plants would tie Palestinian cities and villages to the settlements. " (Thanks Marcy)