Israeli water company Mekorot reduces water supply to West Bank's Bethlehem, Hebron

Israeli national water company Mekorot has reduced the daily amount of water supply to the occupied West Bank cities of Hebron and Bethlehem, the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) said on Saturday.

The PWA said that Mekorot has decreased the water supply by 6,000 cups, and is depriving Palestinians of having sufficient access to water, especially during rising summer temperatures currently witnessed in the West Bank.

The water authority went on to describe the move as "racist."

"There are no technical reasons behind this reduction," the PWA said.

Israeli water company Mekorot reduces water supply to West Bank's Bethlehem, Hebron

Palestinians, who are faced with Israeli restrictions, consume water below the internationally-recommended amount [Getty]

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Important Report on Mekorot~Please read

In this report, Who Profits highlights the role of Mekorot, Israel’s national water company, in facilitating the dispossession and displacement of Palestinian communities on both sides of the Green Line – an embedded dispossession utilized to bolster Israel’s settlement enterprise and economic growth, and contingent on exploiting occupied natural resources and violating Palestinian and Syrian rights.  

The report reviews Israel’s control over water resources and how Mekorot systematically denies adequate Palestinian access to water leading to structured dependency and the captivity of the Palestinian water sector, a dependency Mekorot has a vested financial interest in maintaining.

Dried Up: Mekorot’s Involvement in the Israeli Occupation

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"settler activity means they are now deprived of its waters"

“Five Palestinians were injured on Wednesday evening when they were attacked by a group of Israeli settlers in the Jordan Valley, near the city of Tubas in the northern occupied West Bank.

Safwat Daraghmeh, 30, told us that he was with his brothers and their children in the area of the Sakot Spring when 20 settlers suddenly attacked them.

The settlers were armed with batons, pepper spray, and stones. They gathered around the Palestinians and drove them away.

“The settlers threw stones at me and hit my brothers with batons. One of them stomped on my brother Muhammad's knee and tried to break it. Others sprayed burning gas in our faces amid insults and shouting,” he added.

Three children who were with Daraghmeh and his siblings - the oldest of whom was three years old - were left terrified and crying.

West Bank: Israeli settlers injure Palestinians visiting natural spring

Palestinian men protest against the closure of a road near the site of an attack on an Israeli bus, east of Tubas in the occupied West Bank, 4 September 2022 (AFP)

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