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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">‘Buying Our Own Stolen Water’ - Scorching Summer Awaits Palestinians in the West Bank</h1>June 26, 2024</div>
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<img src="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Water_WestBank_Adalah.png" alt="" title="Water_WestBank_Adalah" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" width="408" height="274" style="margin-right: 25px;">
Israeli authorities regularly cut water supply to Palestinians in West Bank. (Photo: via Adalah)
<p><strong>By <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/fahya-shalash" title="Display all articles for Fayha Shalash - Ramallah">Fayha Shalash – Ramallah</a></strong></p>
<blockquote>
<h3><span>Every summer, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank struggle
with the lack of water as a result of official Israeli policy. This
year, however, matters are expected to worsen as a result of an Israeli
decision to further reduce the percentage of water available to
Palestinians. </span></h3>
</blockquote>
<p><span>During the past few weeks, Israel decided to reduce the amount
of water allocated to the cities of Hebron (Al-Khalil) and Bethlehem, in
the southern West Bank, by about 35 percent, while increasing the
settlers’ share of water resources.</span></p>
<p><span>The Israeli Mekorot water company, which controls the amount of
resources that reach Palestinians in the West Bank, officially informed
the Hebron municipality of the new provision. </span></p>
<p><span>The decision has intensified the state of anxiety among the residents of the two cities.</span></p>
<h4><strong>Summer Nightmare</strong></h4>
<p><span>For Muhammad al-Talahma, a resident of the city of Dura, south
of Hebron, the summer season has been a nightmare for years, since the
Israeli occupation decided to reduce water quantities.</span></p>
<p><span>The residents of Hebron, which is famous for its agriculture
and fertile soil, are experiencing a state of continuous psychological
pressure. Due to the reduction in water, many residents have been forced
to reduce their crops because they cannot afford irrigation.</span></p>
<p><span>Al-Talahma told the Palestine Chronicle that he has become a
policeman in his own home – constantly monitoring his six children’s use
of water.</span></p>
<p><span>This, however, is not enough. </span></p>
<p><span>In the last weeks, the water has been cut off several times a month, making life almost impossible.</span></p>
<p><span>“We are reducing everything, including showering and cleaning
the house. My wife is forced to use the water to wash the dishes to also
clean the floor,” al-Talahma said.</span></p>
<p><span>“We live as if we were in the Middle Ages, in houses without
water,” he added. “Every few days, we are forced to buy water for
astronomical sums, if we find it at all.”</span></p>
<p><span>A water tank costs more than 400 shekels (108 dollars) but al-Talahma is forced to buy it regularly to meet his family’s needs. </span></p>
<p><span>He said this is a huge financial burden in light of the harsh economic conditions.</span></p>
<p><span>To make things worse, Palestinians in the Hebron area are aware
that the settlements that were established on Palestinian lands can
enjoy large amounts of water resources. </span></p>
<p><span>Moreover, the illegal Jewish settlers take control of the water
springs throughout the city’s mountains, forbidding access to their
Palestinian owners.</span></p>
<p><span>“It is painful to see that my children are thirsty, while
settlers’ children are swimming and having fun in pools around the water
springs that our ancestors built,” al-Talahma stressed. “Armed soldiers
are deployed around them to ensure we do not approach them.”</span></p>
<h4><strong>Double Standards </strong></h4>
<p><span>Therefore, the recent announcement that water quantities for
the Palestinians will be further decreased has made matters even more
complicated.</span></p>
<p><span>The Hebron Municipality appealed to the international community
to intervene to solve the water crisis, especially since the population
is growing. </span></p>
<p><span>The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics estimates the
population of the cities of Hebron and Bethlehem at about more than 1.1
million people, noting that Palestinians depend mainly on water
extracted from ground and surface sources. This amounts to 75.7 percent
of the total available water.</span></p>
<p><span>According to the Bureau, “the Israeli occupation’s measures led
to limiting the ability of Palestinians to exploit their natural
resources, especially water, and forced them to compensate for the
shortage by purchasing water from the Israeli water company Mekorot.”</span></p>
<p><span>The amount of water purchased from the Israeli company for
domestic use amounted to 98.8 million cubic meters in 2022, which
constitutes 22 percent of the amount of available water.</span></p>
<p><span>Also, according to the statistics, the average daily
Palestinian consumption is 85.7 liters. In contrast, Israeli consumption
is three times greater, at about 300 liters per day. </span></p>
<p><span>In the case of illegal settlers, numbers are even more
shocking; they consume more than seven times the Palestinian per capita
consumption.</span></p>
<h4><strong>Forced Displacement</strong></h4>
<p><span>Hassan Barijiyah, a Bethlehem-based expert on settlement
affairs, told The Palestine Chronicle that the city is built on a pool
of groundwater that would be sufficient for all its residents and even
exceeds its needs.</span></p>
<p><span>Barijiyah believes that all of these Israeli practices – the
most recent of which was the reduction of water – aim to forcibly
displace the Palestinians by cutting off all means of life for them.</span></p>
<p><span>In parallel, there is a declared Israeli war on every
Palestinian who tries to dig wells to store water under the pretext that
they are not licensed.</span></p>
<p><span>“If the Israeli occupation did not exist, we would distribute
water to all the Palestinians, but we are thirsty and we are forced to
buy water from the Israelis who steal it from us,” he said.</span></p>
<p><span>“They always come to the Ancient Pools of Suliman, Ain
al-Hiniya, and Fukin Valley, swim in them, and steal their water under
the pretext that it is sacred, while we are prevented from accessing and
benefiting from it,” Barijiyah said.</span></p>
<p><i><span>(The Palestine Chronicle)</span></i></p>
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<p><br></p>
<p><span><em>– Fayha’</em><em> Shalash is a Ramallah-based Palestinian
journalist. She graduated from Birzeit University in 2008 and she has
been working as a reporter and broadcaster ever since. Her articles
appeared in several online publications. She contributed this article to
The Palestine Chronicle.</em></span></p></div>
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