Amnesty: Israel withholds water from Palestinians

Amnesty International is accusing Israel of pumping disproportionate amounts of drinking water from an aquifer it controls in the West Bank, depriving local Palestinians of their fair share. The London-based human rights group also said in a report to be released Tuesday, that Israel has blocked infrastructure projects that would improve existing water supplies to Palestinians–both in the West Bank and those living in the Gaza Strip. "This scarcity has affected every walk of life for Palestinians," Amnesty's researcher on Israel, Donatella Rovera, told The Associated Press in an interview Monday, ahead of the report's release. "A greater amount of water has to be granted to them." Israeli officials deny the accusations.