Settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank not only includes attacks on individuals, homes, vehicles, and olive groves, but also sabotage of water infrastructure yesterday on which Palestinians depend. Palestinians are facing severe water shortages that they say are being driven by increasing attacks on scarce water sources by extremist Jewish settlers, Reuters reported yesterday. Across the West Bank in Palestinian communities, residents are reporting shortages that have left taps in homes dry and farms without irrigation.
In Ramallah, one of the largest Palestinian cities in the West Bank and the administrative capital of the Palestinian Authority, residents facing water shortages are now relying on public taps. “We only get water at home twice a week, so people are forced to come here,” Umm Ziad told Reuters, as she filled empty plastic bottles with water alongside other Ramallah residents.
The United Nations recorded 62 incidents of Jewish settlers vandalizing water wells, pipelines, irrigation networks and other water-related infrastructure in the West Bank in the first six months of the year. The Israeli military acknowledged having received multiple reports of Israeli civilians intentionally causing damage to water infrastructure but said that no suspects had been identified.
