Middle East Monitor / March 10, 2023
Jewish settlers yesterday conducted restoration works on a water spring in the village of Ein al-Beida, based in the northern occupied Jordan Valley, with intentions to take control of it, reported WAFA news agency.
According to local Palestinian rights activist, Aref Daraghmeh, settlers have been carrying out excavation works for two weeks and closed off the area denying Palestinian farmers and hikers access to it.
He added that limiting access to water is part of the occupation state’s efforts to control the Palestinian population.
In recent years, Ein al-Beida villagers have suffered from Israeli demolition and persecution campaigns and repeated attacks and violations by illegal settlers and soldiers.
Israel violates international law by destroying and pillaging water resources in occupied Palestine. It then uses stolen water to increase the supply to illegal Jewish settlements, which have a much higher demand and consumption rates. The state discriminates blatantly by not boosting or even protecting water supplies to Palestinian communities.
Moreover, under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces, settlers often prevent Palestinian farmers’ livestock from grazing in the open pastures in the northern Jordan Valley.
The Jordan Valley is a fertile strip of land running along the west bank of the River Jordan. It is home to about 65,000 Palestinians and makes up approximately 30 per cent of the total area of the occupied West Bank.
Israeli soldiers regularly shoot at and destroy agricultural land in the area causing considerable damage to crops and preventing farmers from working their fields. Israel has occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem since 1967. Human rights abuses against Palestinians and breaches of international law are daily occurrences.
