‘No life without water’: Settler attacks threaten West Bank communities
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank say Israeli settler attacks on their water supplies are making it harder for them to stay in their villages.
“The settlers came, and the first thing they did was break the pipeline. And when the pipeline is broken, we have to stop pumping,” says Subhil Olayan.
“There is no life without water, of course,” added Olayan, who oversees a system of wells, pumps and pipelines supplying water to Palestinian villages, some of which exclusively rely on the Ein Samiyah spring, which was recently attacked by settlers. “The water just goes into the dirt, into the ground.”
The spring is the source of water for some 110,000 people, according to the Palestinian company that manages it.
Issa Qassis, its chairman, said he viewed settler attacks on water supplies as a tool for Israeli land grabs and annexation.
“When you restrict water supply in certain areas, people simply move where water is available,” he said. “So, in a plan to move people to other lands, water is the best and fastest way.”
Israeli forces bulldoze Palestinian land in Idhna, west of Hebron
Israeli forces bulldozed large areas of Palestinian-owned land in the town of Idhna, west of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank. Wafa reported, citing local sources, that the land was located at the main entrance to the town and belongs to Jihad Tmeizi.
Israeli forces claimed that the bulldozing was done under the pretext of searching for water pipelines linked to the Israeli water company, Mekorot. However, the bulldozers destroyed grape and lemon trees, damaged barbed wire fences, and levelled additional plots in the same area.
