Forty-seven Palestinian families in the northern Jordan Valley are facing the risk of displacement after Israeli forces and colonizers cut water supplies serving their communities, Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem said.
The families, numbering more than 300 people, nearly half of them children, live in the communities of Ras al-Ahmar, Ath-Tha’la, and the area east of Atouf.
B’Tselem stated Israeli forces and colonizers severed the last remaining water pipelines supplying the communities during the past week.
The organization added that restrictions on transporting water into the area have left residents, who depend on farming and livestock herding, without reliable access to water.
The rights group warned that the loss of water threatens the ability of families to remain on their land and is placing them at risk of forced displacement.
B’Tselem said the water crisis coincides with excavation work for the Israeli barrier project known as the “Crimson Thread” in the northern Jordan Valley.
According to the organization, the planned route extends approximately 22 kilometers from Ein Shibli to the Tayasir military roadblock area and passes through Palestinian-owned agricultural lands in Ras al-Ahmar, Khirbet Atouf, and neighboring communities.
Construction activities have already caused extensive damage to farmland and water infrastructure, including the uprooting of trees, destruction of crops and greenhouses, and damage to irrigation and water networks.
B’Tselem also reported an escalation in attacks by Israeli colonizers against Palestinian communities located along the barrier route, including threats against residents, damage to water infrastructure, road closures, and restrictions on access to grazing lands.
Israeli military sources cited by Israeli media said the excavation project is being carried out for what the army described as “security purposes.”
The developments come amid reports from Palestinian, Israeli, and international human rights organizations that military measures and colonizer violence have contributed to the displacement of Palestinian communities in parts of the occupied West Bank.
