[News] Stealing water: Israel's covert war on Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Stealing water: Israel's covert war on Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan

Taking advantage of the chaos following Damascus's fall, Israel's seizure
of Syria's Al-Mantara Dam showcases the long-standing Zionist strategy to
secure regional water dominance, exacerbating tensions across an already
parched West Asia.

Mohamad Hasan Sweidan <https://thecradle.co/authors/mohamad-hasan-sweidan>

JAN 14, 2025 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/stealing-water-israels-covert-war-on-syria-lebanon-and-jordan
Photo Credit: The Cradle

At the beginning of January, less than a month after rebel forces seized
Damascus and toppled the Syrian government, Israeli occupation forces
launched an unchallenged advance extending to the vicinity of the Al-Mantara
Dam
<https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-reinforces-occupation-of-deraa-in-south-syria>
– a critical water source for Deraa and the largest dam in the region,
located in the western countryside of Quneitra.

Reports
<https://www.alarabiya.net/arab-and-world/syria/2025/01/02/%D9%85%D8%B2%D9%88%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%B3-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%B7%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%AA%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%B7%D8%B1-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%B3%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B7%D8%B1%D8%A9>
indicate that Israeli tanks and troops established military outposts,
erected earth mounds, and imposed stringent restrictions on local movement,
allowing access only during specific, pre-determined times.

*Geopolitics of water*

Natural resources have always played a pivotal role in shaping geopolitics,
and among them, freshwater
<https://thecradle.co/articles/weaponization-of-water-turkey-flexes-its-muscles-over-syria-and-iraq>
sources have become increasingly contested. While oil and gas dominate
global headlines, the indispensable role of water in agriculture, industry,
and daily life makes it an equally critical factor in global stability.

As freshwater resources grow scarcer, the risk of conflict over this
precious resource escalates, threatening economic development and social
stability.

Historically, nations have vied for control over water-rich territories to
secure trade routes, forge alliances, and drive technological advances.
Ancient civilizations in the Cradle of Civilization, like the Sumerians and
Babylonians, flourished by harnessing the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In
contrast, resource-poor regions often lagged in development, limiting their
political and technological progress.

Today, water scarcity continues to shape regional political strategies. The
Nile River Basin serves as a notable example, where Egypt, Sudan, and
Ethiopia are locked in a dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam
(GERD).

This project, Africa’s largest hydropower initiative, has heightened
diplomatic tensions with Egypt, which relies on the Nile for 90 percent
<https://www.france24.com/ar/20191008-%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B1-%D8%A5%D8%AB%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%B3%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%87%D8%B6%D8%A9-%D8%AE%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%81-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%84>
of its fresh water.

The West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region faces unparalleled water
scarcity, with 83 percent
<https://www.wri.org/insights/highest-water-stressed-countries> of its
population under extreme water stress. According to the World Resources
Institute
<https://reliefweb.int/report/qatar/middle-east-and-north-africa-mena-most-water-stressed-region-earth>,
12 of the 17 most water-stressed countries globally are located in this
region, with Qatar, Israel, and Lebanon ranking as the top three.

Additionally, about 40 percent
<https://press.un.org/en/2023/envdev2056.doc.htm> of the global population
depends on rivers that cross international borders, making transboundary
water management a critical geopolitical challenge. The recent Israeli
incursion at the Al-Mantara Dam starkly illustrates this reality.

Global water demand is projected to rise by 20–25 percent by 2050
<https://www.wri.org/insights/highest-water-stressed-countries>, placing
immense pressure on regions like WANA. By mid-century, 100 percent of the
region’s population could face extreme water stress, further destabilizing
political relationships and heightening the risk of inter-state conflicts
over shared water resources.

Such tensions are already apparent in Israel and Syria, where control over
vital water sources has become a flashpoint.

*Israel’s water realities and ambitions*

Palestine’s arid climate and limited natural water resources have long
shaped the occupation state’s approach to water management, as deserts
constitute more than half of its territory. The country’s key freshwater
sources include the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River, and aquifers along
the coast and mountains.

However, technological advancements in desalination
<https://water.fanack.com/israel/water-infrastructure-in-israel/> and
wastewater reuse have helped Israel reduce its dependence on natural water
sources. By 2018, Israel was reusing 87 percent of its treated wastewater,
primarily for agricultural purposes.

Yet, these innovations come with limitations. Desalination and wastewater
treatment are costly and cannot entirely offset the effects of climate
change
<https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/2021/09/ipac-policies-in-practice_1a65968e/israel-s-sustainable-water-management-plans_41895f7a.html>.
Rising temperatures, declining rainfall, and shrinking aquifer recharge
rates are exacerbating Israel’s water scarcity, as are the declining water
levels and increasing salinity of Lake Kinneret and further desertification
in the south of the country.

To address these challenges, Israel has worked on collecting and treating
<https://blogs.iadb.org/agua/en/how-to-solve-a-countrys-water-problem-learning-from-the-israeli-experience>about
94 percent of wastewater, 87 percent of which is reused, primarily for
agriculture. Overall, between 2000 and 2018, agriculture’s share of
freshwater withdrawals declined from 64 to 35 percent of total water
withdrawals.

These challenges have compelled Israel to turn to regional water sources,
such as the Yarmouk River in Jordan and the Litani River in Lebanon, to
supplement its needs.

Water has been a cornerstone of Israel’s strategy since the early days of
the Zionist ideological movement. Since the state was founded through wars,
occupations, and negotiations with neighboring Arab states, access to water
has been a strategic priority for Israel. This strategy revolved around
maximizing the use of water within and beyond its borders, even at the
expense of the water security of neighboring countries.

Early Zionist leaders, such as Chaim Weizmann
<https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13169/arabstudquar.38.4.0700>, highlighted
the importance of water from areas such as the recently occupied Mount
Hermon in Syria and Lebanon’s Litani River for irrigation and economic
development.

The founder of modern Zionism, Theodor Herzl, stressed from the outset the
need for the Jewish state to include southern Lebanon, in part because of
its containment of vital water sources. The Zionist movement exerted
tremendous pressure during the 1919 peace conference in Paris, seeking to
annex the sources of the Jordan River, the Litani River, and the Hauran
Plain in Syria to Palestine. However, these demands were rejected by the
French side, which had the mandate over Syria and Lebanon under the 1916
Sykes-Picot Agreement.

In 1941, David Ben-Gurion, who later became Israel's first prime minister,
clearly revealed that the future Israeli state coveted the Litani River,
saying: “We must remember that the Litani River must be within the borders
of the Jewish state to ensure its viability.”

Post-1948, Israel nationalized its water resources and launched ambitious
projects, such as the National Water Carrier, to transport water from the
north to the arid south.

Water studies conducted during the 1930s and 1940s indicate that Israel's
1953 Johnston Project ignored the political boundaries of the Jordan River
Basin countries, considering the Sea of Galilee a natural reservoir of
river water. Tel Aviv has planned to divert the course of the Jordan River
waters to its advantage, and has actually begun implementing these plans
through the Israeli company Mekorot since 1953.

These efforts consisted of diverting the waters of the Jordan River and its
tributaries to the Sea of Galilee, which led to a decrease in the Dead
Sea's water levels and shrinkage of its areas as it dried up due to the
diversion of tributary streams for irrigation uses and agricultural
expansion.

In addition, the high rate of evaporation resulting from high temperatures
in the Jordan Valley region contributed to accelerating the decline in the
water level. By the early 1990s, the water level of the Dead Sea had
reached less than 410 meters below sea level
<https://www.prc.ps/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%B7%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%87-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A/>,
which seriously threatens its existence as a unique natural resource.

The 1967 war marked a turning point, as Israel gained control over
water-rich territories like the West Bank
<https://merip.org/1983/07/water-and-israels-occupation-strategy/>, Gaza,
and the Golan Heights. These areas now provide a significant portion of
Israel’s water supply.

However, this control has come at the expense of neighboring states and
Palestinians, who face severe restrictions on water access. For example,
Palestinian per capita water consumption
<https://merip.org/1983/07/water-and-israels-occupation-strategy/> averages
just 20 cubic meters annually, compared to Israel’s 60 cubic meters.

The Israeli government strictly regulates Palestinian water use,
prohibiting the drilling of new wells and imposing fines for exceeding
quotas, while Israeli settlements face no such restrictions. The result is
a terrible inequality in access to water, as Palestinian agriculture
remains backward and inefficient, while Jewish settlements in Palestinian
territories enjoy modern irrigation systems.
Map of Israel's water sources and Israeli expansion in Syria.

*The alarming reality in southern Syria*

Israel’s incursion into southern Syria highlights its ongoing water
ambitions. Reports indicate that Tel Aviv now controls 40 percent of Syria
and Jordan’s shared water resources. Following its takeover of the Al-Wehda
Dam in the Yarmouk Basin in December, Israeli forces then advanced to the
Al-Mantara Dam.

The Yarmouk Basin is a strategically critical area, forming part of the
natural border between Syria and Jordan. The basin’s primary water source,
the Yarmouk River, supports agricultural lands and provides drinking water
<https://arabic.euronews.com/2024/12/20/yarmouk-basin-israel-west-daraa-strategic-area-water-resources-control-military-syria>
to communities in Syria’s Deraa and Suwayda regions, as well as northern
Jordan.

The river covers a distance of 57 kilometers, 47 kilometers of which are
within Syrian territory, while the remainder forms part of the
Syrian–Jordanian border. On its banks, Syria has built a number of dams,
most notably the Yarmouk Dam, in addition to the larger Al-Wahda Dam, which
has a storage capacity of 225 million cubic meters.

These dams are used to irrigate vast areas of agricultural land, estimated
at approximately 13,640 hectares, in addition to supplying the surrounding
villages with drinking water through major pumping networks such as the
“Thawra Line,” which extends from the basin to the city of Deraa and its
countryside, all the way to Suwayda's countryside.

This vital waterway, however, has become a casualty of Tel Aviv’s broader
strategy to secure regional water dominance.

Despite these challenges, Israel’s recent actions in southern Syria
exemplify a consistent strategy of addressing its water shortages
through regional
expansion
<https://thecradle.co/articles/israels-calculus-in-syria-exploit-anarchy-for-strategic-dominance>.
The political turmoil in Syria provided a historic opening for the
occupation state to advance these ambitions.

Notably, the events unfolding in West Asia only go to show that the primary
deterrent against Israel’s exploitation of Lebanese water resources has
always been effective resistance. Until the major strategic setbacks faced
by the Axis of Resistance, this resistance managed to prevent Israel from
replicating its territorial water gains in the region.

Today, by seizing control of critical water infrastructure, Israel’s
ambitions pose direct threats to Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. Yet, as the
region faces accelerating crises, the severity of this water-driven
strategy risks being overshadowed by broader geopolitical concerns. It is
increasingly evident that Israel’s thirst for water resources knows no
bounds.
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