ABSTRACT
Agriculture is the backbone of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip economies. The importance of agriculture has been reinforced in the post-war economy of the west Bank; its share in domestic production and employment has been a full one-third and more. The amount of water being exploited by West Bank Arabs is barely sufficient to support the area presently cultivated, provided a good level of precipitation exists. The ever-expanding Jewish settlements on the West Bank have threatened to greatly diminish the amount of water available for Arab farmers. Farms in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are mainly small and cultivated by the owner. The post-war pattern of land usage has been drastically altered in the West Bank, and to a certain extent in the Gaza Strip. Land expropriation, seizure, and closing off, coupled with the growing number of Jewish settlements, have considerably reduced land and water resources at the disposal of the indigenous farmers.
