An Amnesty International report has claimed that Israel is denying Palestinians adequate access to clean, safe water while allowing almost unlimited supplies to Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Israel, which itself faces unprecedented water shortages, controls much of the West Bank's supplies, pumping from the so-called Mountain Aquifer that bridges Israel and the territory.

Israel's water authority called the report "biased and incorrect at the very least" and said that while there is a water gap, it is not nearly as big as presented by the human rights organisation.

Inside Story discusses the accuracy of the report and how water shortages in the West Bank and Gaza may affect the conflict in the Middle East and future prospects for peace.

Imran Garda is joined by Gerald Steinberg, the president of NGO Monitor and director of the conflict resolution programme at Bar Ilan University, Donatella Rovera, the chief researcher for Amnesty International's Middle East section, and Shaddad Attili, the head of the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA).

This episode of Inside Story aired on Tuesday, 27 October, 2009.