In a region ravaged by drought, where rain is welcomed as a gift from the heavens, Israel has only one main fresh water reservoir, the Sea of Galilee.

The reservoir is supplied by the three tributaries of the Jordan River, the Dan, Banias and Hasbani, all originating in the snows of Mount Hermon bordering Lebanon and Syria -- both theoretically still at war with Israel.

Diplomats had to calm the waters in October 2002 when the Jewish state slammed a Lebanese project to exploit the Wazzani, a tributary of the Hasbani River which flows into Israel, as grounds for war.

Decades earlier in 1964, Israel meted out military reprisals to Syria after Damascus tried to divert water from the Banias River.

A series of ensuing clashes built up into the June 1967 Arab-Israeli war and Israel's conquest of the Golan Heights, a key source of water for the region and a source of conflict ever since between Damascus and the Jewish state.

The longest in the Holy Land, the 300-kilometre (190-mile) Jordan River is literally a fountain of life, snaking through the Jordan valley that runs through the Sea of Galilee before ending up in the Dead Sea.

With natural water sources scarce in Israel, one of the state's first major public works projects after its creation in 1948 was to divert water from the Jordanian River to Tel Aviv and towns in the southern Negev desert.

In a strike laden with symbolism, the armed wing of Fatah chose to attack an Israeli pumping station on the January 1965 anniversary of the creation of the mainstream Palestinian party.

Forty years later, in a climate of revived optimism for Middle East peace, Israel is to sell water and electricity to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in exchange for natural gas discovered off the shore of the occupied territory.

Earlier this month, Israel and Jordan also agreed to build a joint canal between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, as diplomatic ties between the two countries are restored following the four-year Palestinian uprising.

Environmental experts have repeatedly warned that the Dead Sea -- the lowest and most saline place on earth -- is in danger of drying up as Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians divert the Jordan River, which feeds it, for agriculture.

Between 1960 and 2000, the Dead Sea dropped from 392 metres (1,293 feet) below sea level to 412 metres (1,360 feet), according to Elias Salameh, geology professor at the University of Jordan.

At the beginning of 2004, allies Syria and Jordan launched a long-awaited dam project on the two countries' Yarmuk River, which is scheduled to be completed at the end of this year.

The dam will provide Jordan -- 92 percent of which is desert and one of the world's 10 poorest countries in water resources -- with desperately needed water for both human consumption and agriculture.

Officials said its projected 110 million cubic metre (3,850 million cubic foot) storage capacity would enable 81 million cubic metres of water a year to be supplied to the Hashemite kingdom.

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