July 13 (UPI) -- Israel and the Palestinian Authority announced a deal Thursday that will provide 32 million cubic meters of drinking water to the West Bank and Gaza annually.
The deal, brokered by U.S. envoy Jason Greenblatt, will transfer salty water from the Red Sea to a massive desalination plant where it will be made drinkable. It will then be sold under a trilateral agreement to Israel, the Palestinians and Jordan. The salty runoff will be carried via a pipeline to help replenish the Dead Sea, which is shrinking away at a rate of about 3 feet per year.