How the Middle East can tackle the problem of water scarcity

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Experts say water scarcity is chronic in the Arab world, and will continue to increase due to limited renewable resource. (AFP)
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Updated 26 January 2020
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How the Middle East can tackle the problem of water scarcity

  • MENA region is home to 12 of the world's 17 most water-stressed countries, says a new report
  • The idea of “Day Zero” is meant to focus attention on managing water consumption tightly

DUBAI: For quite some time now, experts have been warning that water scarcity is a potential cause for conflict and migration as it increasingly threatens people, livelihoods and businesses worldwide. 

Now, a report by the World Resources Institute (WRI) says 12 of the 17 most water-stressed countries in the world are located in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). 

In the WRI’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, Qatar was ranked first, followed by Israel, Lebanon, Iran, Jordan, Libya, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Oman.

The top 17 countries, including India and Pakistan, are home to a quarter of the world’s population and face “extremely high” water stress as irrigated agriculture, industries and municipalities withdraw more than 80 percent of their available supply on average every year.

The atlas ranks water stress, drought risk and flood risk across 189 countries and their subnational regions, such as states and provinces.

“Once-unthinkable water crises are becoming commonplace. The reasons for these crises go far deeper than drought,” said Rutger Hofste, an associate at Aqueduct who led the research on the WRI’s side.

“Through new hydrological models, WRI found that water withdrawals globally have more than doubled since the 1960s due to growing demand, and they show no signs of slowing down.”

Experts have been warning that water scarcity is a potential cause for conflict and migration worldwide.

In recent years, experts and civic authorities worldwide have introduced the idea of “Day Zero” — when a city government will shut off water taps for most homes and businesses — in an effort to focus attention on managing water consumption as tightly as possible.

“The region (MENA) is hot and dry, so water supply is low to begin with. But growing demands have pushed countries further into extreme stress. Climate change is set to complicate matters further,” Hofste said.

“The World Bank found that this region has the greatest expected economic losses from climate-related water scarcity, estimated at between 6 and 14 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) by 2050.”

That being said, Hofste pointed to untapped opportunities to boost water security in the region, as about 82 percent of wastewater is not reused. Harnessing this resource would generate a new source of clean water, he said.

“Leaders in treatment and reuse are already emerging: Oman, ranked 16 on our list of water-stressed countries, treats 100 percent of its collected wastewater and reuses 78 percent of it. 

“About 84 percent of all wastewater collected in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — is treated to safe levels, but only 44 percent goes on to be reused.”

Water stress is just one dimension of water security. Like any challenge, its outlook depends on management, Hofste said, adding that even countries with relatively high water stress have effectively secured their water supplies through proper management.

“Saudi Arabia prices water to incentivize conservation,” he said. “Its new Qatrah (“droplet” in Arabic) Program sets water-conservation targets and aims to reduce water usage by 43 percent within the next decade.”

Experts say water scarcity is chronic in the Arab world, and will continue to increase due to limited renewable freshwater resources and shrinking available water resources — the result of overexploitation, population growth, and lack of funds to finance water infrastructure.

“The scarcity problem has been compounded by increasing frequency of drought cycles and climate change,” said Dr. Waleed Zubari, professor of water resources management at the Arabian Gulf University in Bahrain.

“These water scarcity conditions are complicated by the political dimension of shared water resources. More than half of the total renewable water resources in the Arab region originate from outside the region, without signed conventions or agreements between the riparian countries,” he added.

“That remains a leading concern threatening the region’s stability, food security and water-resources planning in concerned Arab countries.”

Zubari said Arab countries will have to cooperate politically to adopt a strategic approach and unite in support of all countries sharing water resources to ensure they have the same rights.

“It’s essential for the achievement of joint management of water resources. In this context, the establishment of the Arab Ministerial Water Council by the League of Arab States in 2009 represents an important step in this direction.”

In the GCC the issue is acute, Zubari continued. Most countries had “done well” in providing water for their ever-increasing populations and various consuming sectors. But it came at an enormous cost in terms of investments in water supply sources and infrastructure such as desalination plants, water treatment and dams, as well as consumption of groundwater at far higher rates than its replenishment by aquifers.

“GCC countries face several major challenges that are threatening water sector sustainability,” Zubari said. 

“These include increasing water scarcity, increasing costs for infrastructure and service delivery, resources deterioration, and increasing environmental and economic externalities.

“The main driving forces are population growth and changing consumption patterns, lower rates of water reuse and recycling, low supply efficiency, and low energy efficiency in the water sector.”

Zubari expects their intensity to surge in the future due to climate change. “It seems inevitable if current water policies and practices continue,” he added.

“The most important regional initiative is the Arab Water Security Strategy 2010-2030, which aims at achieving major goals in development and economics, politics and institution.”

Managing water demand and allocating water resources strategically will prove crucial for the region’s future. 

“Developing alternative water resources is important, especially treated wastewater — the only growing water source available,” said Hannah Wuzel, project manager at cewas Middle East, a startup program focusing on sustainable water, sanitation and resource management.

“We need to continue developing and implementing solutions in agriculture, industries, and at the domestic level that can help to reduce water usage.”

She said Gulf countries were fortunate to have the financial means to explore almost any available groundwater source, to desalinate seawater on a large scale, and to substitute water-intensive production of goods and crops with imports. 

But all this is, in many ways, fundamentally unsustainable and dependent on the availability of sufficient funds.

“It certainly is an adaptation strategy,” she said. “Gulf countries invest a lot in the development of high-tech solutions for the water sector, which is a sign that there’s growing concern and awareness.”

Wuzel foresees that water will be at the top of the political and development agenda for most countries in the near future. 

“The performance and development of many other sectors will be increasingly dependent on the availability and management of water,” she said.

“There’s a strong need to move beyond the traditional sector-specific conventional approach to managing water, for instance by fostering innovation and entrepreneurship that contribute with their services and products to increasing sustainability in water management.”

 


Nine of Gazan doctor’s 10 children killed in Israeli air strike

Updated 9 sec ago
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Nine of Gazan doctor’s 10 children killed in Israeli air strike

  • Dr. Alaa Al-Najjar also saw her husband, Dr. Hamdi Al-Najjar, critically injured
  • Couple’s only surviving child, 11-year-old boy, was severely wounded

LONDON: A pediatrician working in southern Gaza has lost nine of her 10 children in an Israeli air strike that hit her family home, in what fellow medics have described as an “unimaginable” tragedy.

Dr. Alaa Al-Najjar, who was on duty at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis at the time of the strike, also saw her husband, Dr. Hamdi Al-Najjar, critically injured.

The couple’s only surviving child, an 11-year-old boy, was severely wounded and underwent emergency surgery on Friday, according to reports.

“This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain,” said Dr. Muneer Alboursh, director general of Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. “In Gaza, it is not only healthcare workers who are targeted, Israel’s aggression goes further, wiping out entire families.”

Graphic footage shared by Palestinian Civil Defense, and verified by media outlets including the BBC, showed the remains of small children being pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building near a petrol station in Khan Younis.

British surgeon Dr. Graeme Groom, who is volunteering at Nasser hospital, said Dr Al-Najjar’s surviving son was his final patient of the day.

“He was very badly injured and seemed much younger as we lifted him onto the operating table,” he said in a video posted to social media.

Groom added that the child’s father, also a physician at the same hospital, had “no political and no military connections and doesn’t seem to be prominent on social media,” calling the strike “a particularly sad day.”

He continued: “It is unimaginable for that poor woman, both of them are doctors here… and yet his poor wife is the only uninjured one, who has the prospect of losing her husband.”

Relative Youssef Al-Najjar, speaking to AFP, made an emotional plea: “Enough. Have mercy on us. We plead to all countries, the international community, the people, Hamas, and all factions to have mercy on us. We are exhausted from the displacement and the hunger.”

Dr. Victoria Rose, another British doctor at the hospital, said the family had lived near a petrol station and speculated that the strike may have caused or been worsened by a large explosion. “That is life in Gaza. That is the way it goes in Gaza,” she said.

The Israel Defence Forces did not comment directly on the strike, but in a general statement said it had hit more than 100 targets across Gaza in a 24-hour period.

The Hamas-run health ministry reported at least 74 Palestinian deaths in that time frame alone.

The UN has warned that Gaza may be entering its “cruelest phase” of the war, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denouncing Israel’s restrictions on aid as exacerbating a humanitarian catastrophe.

Although Israel partially lifted its blockade this week, allowing limited aid to enter, the UN says the deliveries fall far short of the 500–600 trucks of supplies needed daily to meet basic needs for the territory’s 2.1 million people.

Since Israel launched its offensive after Hamas militants stormed into Israel, killing around 1,200 people and abducting 251 others, on Oct. 7, 2023, more than 53,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which includes women and children in its total but does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

-ENDS-


Erdogan, Syria’s Sharaa hold talks in Istanbul

Updated 50 min 35 sec ago
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Erdogan, Syria’s Sharaa hold talks in Istanbul

  • Video footage on Turkish television showed Erdogan shaking hands with Sharaa
  • The two countries’ foreign ministers also attended the talks

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was holding talks with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Istanbul on Saturday, news channel CNN Turk and state media said, broadcasting video of the two leaders greeting each other.

The visit comes the day after US President Donald Trump’s administration issued orders that it said would effectively lift sanctions on Syria. Trump had pledged to unwind the measures to help the country rebuild after its devastating civil war.

Video footage on Turkish television showed Erdogan shaking hands with Sharaa as he emerged from his car at the Dolmabahce Palace on the shores of the Bosphorus Strait in Turkiye’s largest city.

The two countries’ foreign ministers also attended the talks, as well as Turkiye’s defense minister and the head of the Turkish MIT intelligence agency, according to Turkiye’s state-owned Anadolu news agency.

The Syrian delegation also included Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.

MIT chief Ibrahim Kalin and Sharaa this week held talks in Syria on the Syrian Kurdish YPG militant group laying down its weapons and integrating into Syrian security forces, a Turkish security source said previously.


US strike on Yemen kills Al-Qaeda members: Yemeni security sources

Updated 24 May 2025
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US strike on Yemen kills Al-Qaeda members: Yemeni security sources

  • “Five Al-Qaeda members were eliminated,” said a security source in Abyan
  • Washington once regarded the group as the militant network’s most dangerous branch

DUBAI: Five Al-Qaeda members have been killed in a strike blamed on the United States in southern Yemen, two Yemeni security sources told AFP on Saturday.

“Residents of the area informed us of the US strike... five Al-Qaeda members were eliminated,” said a security source in Abyan province, which borders the seat of Yemen’s internationally-recognized government in Aden.

“The US strike on Friday evening north of Khabar Al-Maraqsha killed five,” said a second source, referring to a mountainous area known to be used by Al-Qaeda.

The second security source added that, though the names of those killed in the strike were not known, it was believed one of Al-Qaeda’s local leaders was among the dead.

Washington once regarded the group, known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), as the militant network’s most dangerous branch.

Born in 2009 from the merger of Al-Qaeda’s Yemeni and Saudi factions, AQAP grew and developed in the chaos of Yemen’s war, which since 2015 has pitted the Iran-backed Houthi militants against a Saudi-led coalition backing the government.

Earlier this month, the United States agreed a ceasefire with the Houthis, who have controlled large swathes of Yemen for more than a decade, ending weeks of intense American strikes on militant-held areas of the country.

The Houthis began firing at shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in November 2023, weeks after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, prompting military strikes by the US and Britain beginning in January 2024.

The conflict in Yemen has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, although fighting decreased significantly after a UN-negotiated six-month truce in 2022.


Iraq seeks deal to swap kidnapped academic for jailed Iranian

Updated 24 May 2025
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Iraq seeks deal to swap kidnapped academic for jailed Iranian

  • Iraqi officials are working on a deal to release kidnapped Israeli academic Elizabeth Tsurkov in exchange for an Iranian jailed for murdering an American civilian
  • Tsurkov was kidnapped in March 2023 allegedly by paramilitary group Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq

BAGHDAD: Baghdad is working on a deal to free kidnapped Israeli-Russian academic Elizabeth Tsurkov in exchange for an Iranian jailed in Iraq for murdering a US civilian, security sources said Saturday.
The deal depends on US approval, the senior Iraqi security officials told AFP, asking to remain anonymous because the matter is considered sensitive.
Tsurkov, a doctoral student at Princeton University, was kidnapped in Baghdad in March 2023.
There was no claim of responsibility for her abduction, but Israel accused Iraq’s powerful Kataeb Hezbollah of holding Tsurkov.
The Iran-backed armed faction has implied it was not involved.
Iraq has been working to solve the issue which “depends on the Americans’ approval for the release of the Iranian accused of killing an American citizen,” a senior security source said.
The three Iraqi sources said that Washington has not yet agreed to this.
“The Americans have not yet agreed to one of the conditions, which is the release of the Iranian who is being held for killing an American citizen,” one official said.
Iraq is both a significant ally of Iran and a strategic partner of the United States, and has for years negotiated a delicate balancing act between the two foes.
The Iranian and another four Iraqis were sentenced to life in prison in Iraq for murdering American civilian Stephen Troell, who was shot dead in Baghdad in November 2022.
In December last year, the US Justice Department announced that a “complaint was unsealed... charging” Iranian Mohammad Reza Nouri, “an officer” in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), with allegedly orchestrating the killing.
Tsurkov, who is likely to have entered Iraq on her Russian passport, traveled to the country as part of her doctoral studies.
Security and diplomatic sources have told AFP they do not rule out the possibility that she may have been taken to Iran.
In November 2023, Iraqi channel Al Rabiaa TV aired the first hostage video of Tsurkov since her abduction.
AFP was unable to independently verify the footage or to determine whether she spoke freely in it or under coercion.


British Airways cancels Israel flights until August

Updated 24 May 2025
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British Airways cancels Israel flights until August

  • UK carrier suspended route to Tel Aviv after Houthi attack on Ben Gurion Airport in May
  • Air France flights remain suspended but Delta, Aegean flights recommenced this week

LONDON: There will be no British Airways flights from the UK to Israel until at least August, the airline has said.

BA cited security concerns for the decision, having suspended flights to Tel Aviv in May following a Houthi missile attack that injured six people at Ben Gurion International Airport. The airline subsequently evacuated staff staying in the city to the Austrian capital Vienna.

A BA spokesman said in a statement: “We continually monitor operating conditions and have made the decision to suspend our flights to and from Tel Aviv, up to and including 31 July. We’ve apologised to our customers for the inconvenience.”

A message on the airline’s website for the route reads: “Sorry, we have no flights available. Please edit your search to find other routes.” The next scheduled flight from London to Tel Aviv is on Aug. 1.

Air France has halted flights in and out of Israel until at least May 26. Greek airline Aegean resumed flights to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, while US carrier Delta commenced daily flights from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to Ben Gurion on Monday.  Both had suspended their routes following the Houthi attack.