Israeli occupiers destroy sole water supply line to Palestinian village in occupied West Bank

Israeli occupiers destroyed the only water supply line serving a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank on Monday, cutting off access to water for residents amid ongoing settlement expansion work, according to local sources.

The sources told Anadolu that the occupiers bulldozed Palestinian land and destroyed the main and only water pipeline supplying Umm Safa village, northwest of Ramallah, while paving a new settlement road near the area.

The attack left the village without running water, the sources said.

Umm Safa has witnessed escalating assaults by Israeli occupiers operating from surrounding illegal settlements and outposts, increasingly preventing Palestinians from accessing their farmland.

The occupied West Bank has seen a surge in attacks by Israeli occupiers and the Israeli army targeting Palestinian agricultural land, including arson attacks, bulldozing operations and restrictions on farmers’ access to their property, particularly near illegal settlements and outposts.

Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government plans to allocate 5.5 million shekels ($1.89 million) from the state budget to fund the extremist occupier group Hilltop Youth.

The group, whose members mainly live in illegal settlement outposts across the occupied West Bank, has carried out repeated attacks against Palestinians and is considered the ideological nucleus of the extremist “Price Tag” movement.

Since Oct. 8, 2023, the Israeli army and occupiers have killed at least 1,169 Palestinians, wounded 12,666 others, arrested about 23,000 and displaced 33,000, according to official Palestinian figures.​​​​​​​

*Writing by Tarek Chouiref