Palestinians in West Bank village face new crisis as settlers cut off water

By Nuha Sharaf

SUSIYA, West Bank (Reuters) -Palestinians in the village of Susiya in the Israeli-occupied West Bank thought life could not get worse as Jewish settlers were attacking them repeatedly and ripping apart their precious olive groves.

Then settlers armed with knives set upon their water sources, villagers said.

"They want us to live without water, and here they also cut the electrical wires," said Mousa Mughnem, 67, who lives with his 60-year-old wife Najah in the village near the town of Hebron.

Palestinians in the West Bank have reported growing Israeli settler violence since war erupted between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza on October 7, 2023.

Palestinian authorities who exercise limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank say the settlers are trying to force Palestinians off their lands in order to seize them.

Emboldened by some far-right Israeli government ministers who seek to annex the West Bank, settlers have assaulted Palestinian farmers, cut down trees and set fire to precious olive groves.

Jihad Al-Nawajaa, the head of the Susiya village council, said the water shortages have become unbearable. "If we do not have water here, we will not survive. They make us thirsty in order to expel us, and their aim is to expel people," he said.

Residents of Susiya accuse Israeli settlers of severing water pipes and electricity wires, chopping down their olive trees and preventing them from herding their sheep.

In response to a Reuters request for a comment on settler attacks in Susiya, the Israeli military said soldiers have been dispatched to deal with any troubles and have removed Israeli citizens involved.

"As for the most recent incident that occurred on Monday (July 28), same protocol was used, and no injuries were reported," the army said.

OLIVE TREES PART OF PALESTINIAN IDENTITY

Palestinians have cultivated olive trees for generations and regard them as an enduring symbol of their national identity.

Some villagers, like Najah Mughnem, are defiant and say they will remain attached to their land and their olives no matter what the settlers do.

"Even if they burn down or cut down the trees or inflict damage, we will not leave," she said.

B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, has reported around 54 settler attacks on the village since October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel from Gaza, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

Israel's military response has killed more than 60,000 people in Gaza, according to the enclave's health authorities.

"We are afraid... We spend the days and nights nervous, we hardly sleep," said Fawziyeh Al-Nawajaa, 58, a Susiya villager.

Susiya residents have faced threats of demolition for decades. Palestinians there were so attached to their lands that they once lived in caves until they were expelled in 1986 after an archaeological site was discovered.

The caves were later destroyed and they now live in tents and prefabricated buildings.

The village is spread across several rocky hillsides between a Jewish settlement to the south and a Jewish archaeological site to the north - land Israel has occupied since the 1967 Middle East war.

(Writing by Nayera Abdallah; editing by Michael Georgy and Mark Heinrich)