OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (Palestine Foundation Information Center) The Jerusalem Governorate Water Authority announced on Monday that water pumping from the Ain Samia wells area in the central occupied West Bank has stopped for dozens of Palestinian towns due to attacks by Israeli settlers in the Ain Samia area east of Kafr Malik town.
In a press statement, the authority reported a complete halt in pumping from wells and water stations as a result of escalating settler attacks on vital facilities and infrastructure there.
It noted that its teams have lost technical and administrative control over the entire water system in Ain Samia due to a series of settler assaults targeting electricity networks, pumping equipment, communication systems, and surveillance cameras.
The authority explained that these settler attacks have led to a total disruption of water supply to dozens of Palestinian villages and towns in the north and east of Ramallah and Al-Bireh governorate.
It added that the area continues to experience internet and communications outages, making it difficult to access sites for technical work or restart the stations, while preventing the provision of adequate protection for field teams.
The authority appealed to all official and human rights bodies for immediate and urgent intervention to stop these dangerous attacks. It also warned that if the situation continues, it could result in a humanitarian catastrophe threatening more than 70,000 Palestinians by depriving them of their basic right to water.
It called for international protection for Palestinian water resources and for real pressure to stop Israel’s systematic sabotage targeting water sources.
The Ain Samia wells are located on the eastern slopes of the West Bank. Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, settlers have taken over the area, expelling Palestinian farmers and preventing the Jerusalem Water Authority from carrying out its work.
Ain Samia, located on the lands of Kafr Malik east of Ramallah, contains six water wells that have supplied most towns east of Ramallah with drinking water since the 1960s.
According to Kafr Malik’s village council records, the area contains archaeological sites dating back to the Canaanite, Byzantine, and Ottoman periods. Situated on the eastern slopes of the Ramallah mountains overlooking the Jordan Valley, it is considered the “food basket” of Kafr Malik, with fields planted with grains, thyme, citrus, and vegetables.
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli occupation forces and settlers have escalated their attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, leading to the killing of at least 1,001 Palestinians and the injury of nearly 7,000 others, according to Palestinian sources.
