"People are thirsty, crops are thirsty."

Palestinian villages and cities across the occupied West Bank are suffering from severe water shortages, while the illegal settlements that surround them are flourishing, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported yesterday.

Describing the situation in the West Bank, Haaretz wrote: “Across the dusty villages of the occupied West Bank, where Israeli water pipes don’t reach, date palms have been left to die. Greenhouses are empty and deserted.”

Haaretz: Palestinian taps run dry as settlers fill their pools 

A Jewish settler family swims in the water of the natural spring of Ein Al-AUJA in the occupied Jordan Valley West Bank on 24 June 2020 [Amir Levy/Getty Images]

"This is the hardest summer we've had in nine years."

“Across the West Bank, water troubles have stalked Palestinian towns and cities since interim peace accords of the 1990s gave Israel control over 80% of the West Bank’s water reserves — and most other aspects of Palestinian life.

The accords also created a limited self-rule Palestinian government that would provide water to its swelling cities by tapping the rapidly depleting reservoirs it shares with Israel and buying water from Israel’s state-run company. The arrangement left the Palestinians who live in the remaining 60% of the West Bank under full Israeli civil control stranded — disconnected from both Israeli and Palestinian water grids. This includes much of the Jordan Valley.”

As Israeli settlements thrive, Palestine taps run dry. The water crisis reflects a broader battle.

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Water as a weapon...

“But there are some places, like Masafer Yatta where I live, and like the Jordan Valley, where this apartheid is particularly extreme. Here, most of the Palestinian villages — which Israel is trying to expel through quasi-legal mechanisms, army harassment, and violent settlers who enjoy impunity for their attacks — are not allowed to connect to the water network at all. Meanwhile, Israelis in the nearby villa-settlements consume on average 20 times more water than the area’s Palestinian villages. “

In hottest summer ever, Masafer Yatta sears from water apartheid

Palestinian woman using a water pipe in Masafer Yatta, in the West Bank, May 10, 2022. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

Another Palestinian Fisherman Shot by Israeli Navy in the Gaza Sea

“Since October 2000, human right centers in Gaza have documented several Israeli violations, including killing and confiscation of boats, against fishermen who were allowed, in accordance with international guaranteed Palestinian- Israeli agreements, to fish in within 4 to 6 nautical miles offshore.

Despite the signed agreements between Palestinians and Israel, which allow fishermen to go 12 nautical miles inside the Mediterranean Sea, Israeli navy targets Gaza fishermen almost daily and does not allow them to go further than three nautical miles.”

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Another Palestinian Fisherman Shot by Israeli Navy in the Gaza Sea

The Israeli army regularly detains and opens fire on unarmed Palestinian fishermen. (Photo: Mahmoud Nasser, The Palestine Chronicle)