We also seem to forget that Netanyahu's war crimes and atrocities are not only in Gaza. His actions in the West Bank are truly reprehensible.
Along with the actions of the settlers he has emboldened.
When the masked men sliced through the metal fence of the water-pumping station on a dark February evening and ran toward the squat building, the four workers inside panicked. Three fled; the fourth stayed behind. He jumped into a manhole and crouched in the cramped, dank space for 90 minutes. Above him, the attackers shattered monitors, severed electrical wires and smashed pipes.
This is the threat faced by those who work in the Ein Samia pumping station in the occupied West Bank, said Mohammad Abu Ayyash, water operations director at the Jerusalem Water Undertaking, a regional public water utility, as he recounted the story of the attack to CNN.
Since the beginning of the year, Ayyash said they have attacked Ein Samia at least 10 times.
Ein Samia is far from the only target. Attacks by settlers on Palestinian water in the West Bank have soared over recent years, according to United Nations data. The West Bank has seen a surge in settler violence in recent months amid an effort by Israel’s right-wing government to deepen control over the territory.
The roots of the West Bank’s water struggles go back decades. Israel has had significant control of water since its occupation in 1967. It controls roughly 80% of the West Bank’s water resources under 1995 peace accords, which were intended to last five years but have remained in effect.
Palestinians also need Israeli permission to build and expand water infrastructure, which is granted sparingly, experts say. They even need approval to repair infrastructure, which can make dealing with damage from settler attacks even more costly and time-consuming.
