In a bilateral meeting between the head of the Palestinian Water Authority, Eng.Mazen Ghoneim and the Minister of Water Resources in the Republic of Iraq, Dr.Hassan Al Janabi the parties discussed bilateral cooperation in the in the development and management of water resources.
At the beginning of the meeting, Eng.Ghonaim congratulated the Iraqi government on military victories, defeating terrorism and liberating all Iraqi territories, especially the infrastructure of water resources. While Dr. Janabi reviewed the heavy losses incurred by the water sector as a result of this brutal aggression, which directly targeted facilities and water facilities, in addition to the efforts of the Iraqi government in the reconstruction of these facilities.
The parties have discussed mechanisms to frame the bilateral relationship between the two countries in preparation for the signing of a memorandum of understanding to develop the Palestinian water sector through sharing of expertise and experience in several areas. While the parties agreed to hold a preparatory meeting for the technical committees in mid-June in the republic of Iraq to agree on final items and time frame for implementation of these items.
During the meeting ,Ghoneim reviewed the water situation in the Gaza Strip and donor conference outputs indicating the next steps towards implementing the program start dessert, the Iraqi Minister expressed his full support for the Palestinian water rights and the need to address the Israeli occupation policies and ambitions to plunder Palestinian water resources, noting that this situation is the main driver behind his Government's support for Arabic under occupation and water Conference held in the Arabic Republic of Egypt October 2016.
At the end of the meeting, Eng. Ghoneim presented to his Iraqi counterpart an official invitation to participate in the first Palestine International Water Forum, held in Ramallah between 25 – 28 Junes this year, he also thanked the Iraqi Government to continue its historic support for the justice of the Palestinian cause and the rights of the Palestinian people.