On Monday night, illegal paramilitary Israeli colonizers destroyed a vital irrigation network in Palestinian-owned farmland in the northeastern Jordan Valley, near Jericho, in the occupied West Bank.
The targeted system served approximately ten dunums (about 2.5 acres) of cultivated land in the village of Khaled Khader al-Farisiya.
The colonizers not only dismantled the water infrastructure but also cut and uprooted rows of corn crops, inflicting significant agricultural losses on the Palestinian landowner.
This attack is part of a broader pattern of colonizer violence in the Northern Plains. Over the past two years, escalating assaults and land seizures—often carried out with impunity and under the protection of Israeli forces—have forced numerous Palestinian families to abandon their homes and farmlands. Two entire communities in the area have been forcibly evacuated during this period.
The destruction of irrigation systems is a recurring tactic used to undermine Palestinian agricultural resilience and accelerate displacement.
In nearby al-Jiftlik, Israeli forces previously destroyed three irrigation ponds serving 70 dunums of farmland and uprooted over 100 palm trees.
These actions are compounded by Israel’s control over water resources in the Jordan Valley, where Palestinians are routinely denied permits to drill or restore wells, while the Israeli water company Mekorot monopolizes access and distribution.
Mekorot exercises near-total control over water in the occupied West Bank, including aquifers beneath Palestinian land.
This monopoly enables a discriminatory system in which Palestinian communities endure chronic water shortages, while illegal Israeli colonies enjoy uninterrupted access.
Mekorot routinely reduces or cuts water supply to Palestinian towns, especially during the summer.
In 2025, the town of Ethna, a community near Hebron with roughly 40,000 residents, went without running water for over 100 consecutive days after Mekorot shut down its supply line entirely.
Similar cuts have occurred in al-Jiftlik, Tubas, and Farisiya, often coinciding with expansion of colonies and colonialist outposts, or military demolitions of Palestinian infrastructure.
The company also slashed Hebron governorate’s daily water allocation from 32,000 to 26,000 cubic meters, citing alleged “illegal water theft” by residents—an accusation widely rejected by local officials and human rights groups.
In practice, Palestinians receive water only on designated days of the week, forcing families to rely on rooftop tanks and ration every drop.
Meanwhile, Israeli colonizers in the West Bank consume up to 800 liters per person per day, compared to just 70 liters for Palestinians.
Mekorot’s monopoly dates back to its establishment under the British Mandate in the 1930s. After Israel’s occupation of the West Bank in 1967, the company was granted exclusive rights to exploit water resources in the area.
Today, it continues to deny Palestinians permits to access their own water, while supplying illegal colonies built on confiscated land.
These practices violate international law. The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from transferring its population into occupied territory or exploiting its natural resources for the benefit of its own citizens.
The human toll is severe. In Ethna, residents described extreme hardship—skipping showers, limiting toilet flushes, and relying on rainwater or expensive purchased tanks. “Every time my children open the faucet, I tell them to close it back as soon as they can,” said one local journalist.
This is not a crisis of scarcity—it is a crisis of domination. Water drawn from Palestinian land is weaponized to entrench colonization and accelerate dispossession.
Parched: Israel’s policy of water deprivation in the West Bank | B’Tselem
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Details Mekorot’s water cuts in Idna and Hebron, including the 100-day shutdown in 2025
Mekorot water cuts report
Mondoweiss / NPK Press: In-depth reporting on Mekorot’s monopoly, discriminatory water allocation, and the impact on Palestinian towns like Idna
Mondoweiss article on water apartheid
