In West Bank, Palestinians have no control over ‘one drop of water’
Jad Isaac, director of the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ), a Palestinian environmental NGO based in Bethlehem, said the Palestinian water authority has no authority over “one drop of water”.
“All the water in the West Bank and Gaza is under the control of the Israeli army, and this has been going on since 1967,” Isaac told Al Jazeera.
“We are not allowed to dig wells or install a water pipe without permission from the Israelis. The quotas allocated to us by the Israeli army is hardly enough to meet the needs of the Palestinians.”
His comments come as Palestinians in the occupied West Bank say attacks by Israelis from illegal settlements on water supplies are making it harder to stay in their villages.
Isaac said when the Zionist movement began in 1948, “They clearly started preparing for the division of Palestine based on hydrological grounds and not ideological or historic grounds.”
So far, there have been more than 45 attacks on Palestinian springs, Isaac said.
Israeli forces issue demolition orders for 7 Palestinian homes in Bethlehem
Seven Palestinian homes have been given demolition notices in the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.
The Wafa news agency reported that the Umm Rokba area of the town, which has been increasingly targeted by Israeli authorities, is surrounded by several illegal outposts that aim to expand Israel’s Gush Etzion settlement.
Israeli forces also bulldozed large areas of Palestinian-owned land in the town of Idhna, west of Hebron. The affected land is reportedly located at the main entrance to the town.
Israeli forces set homes ablaze in Nur Shams refugee camp
Israeli forces set fire to several homes in the Nur Shams refugee camp, east of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank, according to local sources cited by Wafa news agency.
Soldiers reportedly torched homes in the al-Manshiya neighbourhood while maintaining a tight siege on the camp for the 162nd consecutive day. Military vehicles and infantry units have been widely deployed in the area, turning evacuated homes into military outposts and opening fire on anyone attempting to approach the camp.
Over recent weeks, Nur Shams has witnessed widespread demolition, with 48 residential buildings already destroyed, part of an Israeli plan to raze 106 buildings across the Nur Shams and Tulkarem camps, Wafa said. Bulldozers have opened wide roads through neighbourhoods, dividing communities and displacing thousands, it added.
In the adjacent Tulkarem camp, Wafa said Israeli forces continued demolition work that began last week, now targeting additional residential buildings. The military campaign, now in its 175th day, seeks to demolish 104 buildings housing about 400 homes.
The ongoing incursion has forcibly displaced more than 5,000 families – more than 25,000 residents – from both camps. More than 600 buildings have been completely destroyed, while 2,573 homes have sustained partial damage, it added.
Several children suffer from tear gas inhalation during Israeli raid near Bethlehem
Several Palestinian children were injured from tear gas inhalation after Israeli forces stormed the town of Tuqu, southeast of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports.
According to Tayseer Abu Mifreh, the head of the Tuqu municipality, Israeli soldiers fired stun grenades and tear gas at a group of children playing football near the municipal building, leading to multiple cases of suffocation.
Earlier, Israeli forces had entered the town and deployed in several neighbourhoods, including the area surrounding the municipality, Wafa said.
