Israeli plans to build a 7-kilometer long water pipeline between two illegal settlements, in the north of the West Bank, will harm several Palestinian farmers whose land will be affected by a pipeline that will cut through their land, Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official, said on Saturday.
Daghlas told WAFA that several Palestinian landowners and farmers in the Nablus-area villages of Qusra and Jaloud were informed, by the Israeli military, that the water pipeline between the settlements of Shavot Rahel and Magdolim, which were illegally built on land belonging to the two villages, is going to go through their land, which means the farmers will not be able to cultivate a large area of their land located near the pipeline.
He said the pipeline will go through four kilometers in Jaloud, thus affecting seven plots of land, and also through Qusra, affecting three plots.
“The water pipeline will cause heavy damage to agricultural land and its owners will not be allowed to work a distance of several meters from the pipes, in addition to the damage that will be caused to the land when the bulldozers start extending the pipes, most of which will pass through Jaloud and Qusra lands,” said Daghlas.
He noted that the military order stated that landowners and residents living along the track of the pipeline were entitled to seek compensation, from the project owners, for any damage caused to them as a result of the work, and that they may appeal the compensation decision.
He stressed that the landowners, in any case, will not be allowed to object to the extension of the water line through their land, which will be destroyed by it, since a road is normally constructed along the path of the water pipeline and no one will be allowed near it.
