Five activists from the Combatants for Peace Movement and a journalist were injured and more than seven other activists were abducted when Israeli soldiers attacked a convoy delivering water to a Palestinian family from Al-Tiwani village in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, on Friday 17.09.2021.
Two were moderately injured and were moved to a local hospital in Hebron, and three others suffered tear gas inhalation.
The injured journalist received treatment in location after being attack by Israeli occupation soldiers. Adam Rabie was among those injured who sustained injuries in his stomach when soldiers fired a tear gas canister directly at him.
The convoy of activists set out from the village of at-Tiwani towards the family home of a local farmer, Abu Hani, to deliver water to the property because the family has no running water due to Israeli violations and restrictions.
The Israeli soldiers then stopped the convoy, assaulted the activists, and abducted seven of them.
The soldiers also fired a barrage of stun grenades and tear gas and forced the participants to return, without allowing the water to reach the Palestinian family.
Basil Al-Adra from Masafer Yatta local Committee said, “The occupation seeks to deprive us of water to force us to leave our lands in Masafer Yatta. We will continue our protests to achieve our rights, our basic right to have water, and our right to live in dignity in our homeland without occupation.”
Al-Adra added, “Our partners from the Combatants for Peace movement continue to work with us to obtain our full legitimate rights guaranteed by international law.”
Jamil Qassas, the Palestinian general coordinator of the Combatants for Peace movement, said, “The violence of the occupation prevented us from delivering water to the Palestinian family, which is clear evidence of the occupation’s racism. We are continuing our campaign “Water is a Right” and today’s activity is the first of many to expose the racist policy of the occupation against the Palestinians.”
“Water is a Right” is a campaign launched by the Combatants for Peace movement in cooperation with the Masafer Yatta Committee, which aims to raise international awareness about the ongoing injustice and violations by the Israeli occupation, including depriving the Palestinians of their right to water resources in what is known as Area C of the West Bank.
The Israeli occupation controls more than 95% of the natural water wells in the West Bank, while the Israeli colonizers enjoy running water throughout the year; Palestinians in those areas suffer from water cuts up to 150 days per year
Moreover, the Israeli occupation prevents the Palestinians in Area C from building or develop any water wells and distribution networks of their own.
