Russia and Israel lead global surge in attacks on civilian water supplies
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The surprise cross-border attack by Hamas on 7 October left 1,200 Israelis dead and more than 200 taken hostage.
In response, relentless retaliatory attacks by Israel on Gaza have damaged or destroyed at least six water wells, three water pumping stations, one water reservoir and one desalination plant serving over 1.1 million Palestinians. UN agencies have reported dire, potentially fatal water shortages, with Palestinians forced to drink, cook and bathe in contaminated water or seawater.
Israel has also cut off electricity and fuel supplies needed to operate Gaza’s other desalination plants, and water treatment and sewage facilities.
Much of the recent water-related violence in Gaza has not yet been added to the conflict chronology.
But long before the siege on Gaza, Israel had been systematically targeting Palestinian irrigation and water supply systems in the West Bank as part of its plans to expand settlements and control the region’s very limited water supplies. Israel attacked Palestinian water sources at least 66 times between January 2022 and mid-2023 – more water-related violence than was inflicted on Ukraine during the same time period.
For instance, Israeli settlers and soldiers carried out a series of attacks against water systems in June 2022 which included filling a well with stones near Yabad, close to Jenin, and demolishing a pond used to water grapes in Bir Zayt.
In October last year, Israeli military forces destroyed a water pump that supplied water to several villages including Burin and Madama, cutting supplies to more than 20,000 Palestinians.
Earlier this year in July, Israeli occupying forces raided and looted Palestinian farmers in Hebron in the
West Bank before pouring concrete into water wells to prevent the landowners from irrigating their farmland.
The frequent attacks go hand in hand with land grabs, and are carried out with almost total impunity.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/15/water-related-violence-russia-israel-report