With temperatures above 40°C, Palestinians suffer as Israel cuts off vital water springs to West Bank communities

As temperatures climbed above 40°C in Al-Auja village in the occupied West Bank's Jordan Valley this June, Musa Kaabneh, a Palestinian sheep herder, struggles to provide enough drinking water for his household and flock.

Kaabneh is one of 150 Palestinian Bedouin families living in the area, relying on sheep herding for their livelihood, who claim that Israeli settlers are denying them access to the village's spring, a vital water source the community has depended on since before Israel's occupation of the West Bank in 1967.

"We used to lead normal lives, drinking and watering our sheep from al-Auja's spring," he told The New Arab. "A few months ago, however, settlers established an outpost near our community, and our lives haven’t been the same since."

Kaabneh reported that settlers, backed by the Israeli police and army, forcibly seized the village's water spring, cutting off the community's access to water. 

"A war on our survival"

"They claim it belongs to them and is forbidden for Palestinians," he added. "The livelihood of our community depends on the availability of pastures and water, but today settlers deprived us of both."

Residents of the community reported that efforts to pipe water from the spring to their homes have been thwarted by Israeli settlers, who allegedly stole or cut the plastic pipes.

"The current situation means losing everything and being forced to leave, but where can we find water and pastures without settlers?" Kaabneh added.

Kaabneh either buys water from the Israeli water company Mekorot at a high price or siphons water from the local well when there are no settlers around, typically at the break of dawn, to support his family and their flock of 400 sheep and goats.

The plight of Kaabneh in al-Auja mirrors that of Palestinian Mahyoub Foqaha, who lives near Ein al-Hilweh in the northern Jordan Valley. Despite residing next to a water spring, Foqaha is barred from using its water.

"For us, water is a matter of life or death," he told TNA. "With the protection of the Israeli army, settlers deny us access to water sources."

"They know that controlling the water in an area where residents rely on livestock means sentencing us to death."

Before settlers took control of the spring in early 2022, Foqaha had a flock of about 300 sheep. Today, he owns half this number, a reduction he attributes to the settlers' impact on local pastures and water availability.

Like his neighbours in Ein al-Hilweh, Foqaha struggles to obtain drinking water through "expensive and insufficient" privately-bought water tanks. He notes that Israeli authorities issue US$200 traffic fines to drivers of tractors towing water tanks, tightening the restrictions even further.

"The springs have been turned into tourist spots for settlers to enjoy while we die of thirst," he stated. "It's a silent war on our existence, but it is ultimately something that we cannot accept."

Unprecedented increase in attacks

Israeli settler violence had been on the rise in the occupied West Bank well before 7 October, but in the aftermath of the Hamas-led surprise attack on Israeli military bases and civilian settlements within and around the Gaza envelope, and Israel's war on Gaza that followed, settlers received a "carte blanche" to wreak havoc in the occupied West Bank, said Ayman Ghareeb, an activist against Israeli settlement expansion.

On Thursday, Israel's parliament passed a resolution that overwhelmingly rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state, according to Israeli media reports. The resolution was passed in the Knesset early on Thursday with 68 votes in favour and just nine against it.

Ghareeb told TNA that this is in line with Israel's hawkish approach following 7 October, which, in July, saw the largest seizure of land in the occupied West Bank in 30 years. He added that these policies empowered settlers to control more of the West Bank's water springs, especially in the Jordan Valley.

"The water war is both old and new, but after October 7, it has reached an unprecedented level with dozens of violations that are now difficult to even monitor," he said. "Residents in the Jordan Valley are now unable to secure even the minimum amount of water."

Since the occupation of the West Bank, understood to be the longest ongoing military occupation in modern history, Israeli authorities have pursued a policy of drying up or reducing the flow of water in springs by drilling wells nearby and diverting the water to Israeli settlements or even into Israel itself, according to Ghareeb.

"An occupation of water resources is happening in the West Bank, much like the struggle against settlement expansion and daily violence by Israel," said Muwaiyad Shaaban, head of the Palestinian Authority's Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, in an interview.

Shaaban pointed out that settlers had already taken control of most water springs in Area C of the West Bank before 7 October, but the situation has "exacerbated since then." 

"In the aftermath of 7 October, there were 63 recorded attacks on Palestinian springs by settlers, most of them in the northern West Bank, specifically in the Jordan Valley and Nablus areas, all in Area C," he said, further noting that there are approximately 530 springs in the West Bank, with more than 60 located near settlements, and settlers "have taken control of most of them."

Shaaban added that Israel controls the groundwater in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and does not allow Palestinians to extract sufficient quantities there.

"Dozens of artesian wells were drilled before 7 October in coordination with Israeli authorities, but Israel later took control of them and prohibited water extraction without cause," he said. "There is strict monitoring of groundwater as well, and any increase in extraction results in penalties for the well operator."

Israel controls 85 percent of the West Bank's water resources

Majda Alawneh, director general of Resources and Control at the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA), said that Palestinians in the West Bank depend primarily on groundwater from wells and springs to survive.

"Palestinians in the West Bank rely on these sources for 76 percent of their water needs," she told TNA. "At the same time, the occupation controls over 85 percent of these sources to supply Israeli settlements, leaving Palestinians with approximately 15 percent."

To address the water shortage, Palestinians purchase additional quantities from the Israeli company Mekorot, albeit at prices, quantities, and locations determined by the company. 

Some attempt to drill their wills, but Israel obstructs this under the pretext of requiring permits and approvals from various Israeli civil administration departments, a process that can take years, according to Alawneh.

According to a 2024 report, Israeli authorities issued 86 military orders between 2019 and June 2024, which "targeted the water sector in the occupied Palestinian territories, specifically infrastructure, and the laying of water and sewage lines in the occupied Palestinian territories for the benefit of settlement establishments."

Data published by the Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem in 2023 indicated that the average Israeli water consumption is 247 litres per day, and ranges between 400 and 700 litres per day for settlers in the occupied West Bank.

The PWA has also reported that the Israeli water company Mekorot has reduced water allocations to several Palestinian governorates, including Hebron and Bethlehem, by about 30 percent.

"Aside from settler attacks and Mekorot's monopoly, Israeli police regularly visit licensed wells under Palestinian control to measure water levels and extraction quantities," Alawneh added. "Wells are filled with concrete if water levels are below the assigned threshold, leaving whole communities without any other alternatives."

This article is published in collaboration with Egab.