A Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) report accused Israel of implementing settlement projects that threaten to destroy the natural resources of the Dead Sea, on the borders with Jordan.
Palestinians argue that Israeli investment projects and plants in the Dead Sea contribute to the destruction of the Palestinian natural resources of the sea, which contains 28 types of salts and minerals, the most important of which are chlorine, bromine, sodium, phosphate and calcium.
Environmental experts warn that Israeli investment projects may lead to the drying up of the Dead Sea, especially that it has been shrinking at the rate of about a meter and a half a year, leaving behind deserted beaches. Its total area has also shrunk by 35% during four decades.
Israel fully controls the Jordan Valley, including the entire Dead Sea.
However, the Palestinians said they have 37 kilometers on the Dead Sea and 97 kilometers of borders on the Jordan River, as well as water rights to the river, without which no peace will be attained
The PLO’s National Office for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements said Israel’s violations of laws and international norms exceed all limits, noting that they cover entire West Bank area and extend to the Dead Sea.
The report said that the settlement projects in the Dead Sea take many forms, namely housing projects and tourism development projects on the Sea’s northern shores.
It stressed that Israel not only seeks to control large areas of the land, which resulted in the receding of the Dead Sea's water level, but also wants to implement tourism projects at the remaining areas in the sea.
The report monitored several Israeli settlements in the northern Dead Sea areas, noting that millions of dollars were spent on building infrastructure and facilities that attract settlement in the Jordan Valley.
The Dead Sea loses areas of land that were submerged by water every year due to these projects, the report warned.
It pointed out that Israel blocks the sources that feed the sea for the benefit of the settlements and settlers, whether in the Palestinian territories Israel occupied in 1948 or 1967.
The report indicated that the Israeli authorities plan to open a chain of hotels in the Dead Sea, similar to the Maldives, and in the form of a new “Riviera” in the Middle East.
It said that the Hebrew state plans to open a hotel with 200 rooms floating on the water as a first stage.
