A behind the scenes issue that's not often heard about generally in the West, along with new construction, is water.

International law states that most of the water sources in the area are international resources, and are supposed to be shared by Israelis and Palestinians equitably.

Since Israel controls this resource, Israelis generally receive five times as much water per person as Palestinians. In Gaza, the disparity is even worse, with settlers getting about seven times as much water as their Palestinian "neighbors."

I wonder if water were shared properly across the board if as much housing would be constructed and if so, at what cost?

First of all, the settlements in Gaza have been dismantled, so there are no settlers there receiving water. That's not to say that the water resources used by the area aren't dominated by Israel.

I wish that someone would stand up to Israel and make them understand that the settlements are an illegal provocation of the Palestinians and need to be removed. The fact that we're even debating whether or not colonization should be allowed to continue shows how far off the mark the current conversation on Mideast peace has strayed.

What I should have said Sevumar, was Gazans still are not allowed to drill new wells and receive less water than their Israeli "neighbors."Again, I go back to water: it is also a root cause of Palestnians rejecting Israel proposals.

You're also again correct, we shouldn't be having this conversation, and I see the Obama administration changing the "see, but don't tell" attitude as no longer acceptable.

Tyrtaios-rising:

A behind the scenes issue that's not often heard about generally in the West, along with new construction, is water.

International law states that most of the water sources in the area are international resources, and are supposed to be shared by Israelis and Palestinians equitably.

Since Israel controls this resource, Israelis generally receive five times as much water per person as Palestinians. In Gaza, the disparity is even worse, with settlers getting about seven times as much water as their Palestinian "neighbors."

I wonder if water were shared properly across the board if as much housing would be constructed and if so, at what cost?

let me join this group of mixed emotions by pointing out that yes, on the one hand the settlers do get more than their share of the water, on the other hand, the water supply per capita of the plaestinians of the west bank has gone up greatly since 1967, after stagnating between 1947 and 1967.

why can't we all just get along?

Because this argument's red herring. The land is illegally developed, the water -- subject to longstanding claims from Jordan, Lebanon, and other states -- is being illegally diverted. Hard to get along when one party is hogging your resources.