Illegal Israeli settlers destroy Palestinian water wells in occupied West Bank

Illegal Israeli settlers destroyed water wells in a Palestinian town in the West Bank, in the assaults in the occupied territory, a local nongovernment organization said on Monday.

Armed settlers destroyed Ein Samiya wells in Ramallah in the central West Bank Sunday night, causing a complete halt of access to the wells, the Jerusalem Water Undertaking said in a statement.

The organization said that the destroyed wells were the only source of water for dozens of Palestinian villages in the area.

It warned that the entire region will face an unprecedented water crisis “if no action is taken to halt Israeli settler attacks.”

Since the 1960s, six wells in Kafr Malik's Ein Samiya have been supplying water for the majority of the eastern Ramallah towns in the central occupied West Bank.

According to Palestinian figures, there are around 770,000 illegal settlers in 180 illegal settlements and 256 illegal outposts in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian authorities documented at least 2,153 illegal settler attacks in the occupied territory in the first half of this year alone, resulting in the killing of four Palestinians.

On Sunday, dozens of illegal Israeli settlers from the far-right Tzav 9 group blocked hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip from Jordan, the Israel Hayom newspaper said.

“No aid to Gaza until the last hostage returns,” they chanted.

Families of Israeli hostages in Gaza were also present on the Allenby Bridge, the only official border crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan.

Israeli estimates that 50 hostages remain in Gaza, including 20 believed to be alive. At the same time, over 10,800 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, where they face torture, starvation, and medical neglect that has led to multiple deaths, according to Israeli and Palestinian rights groups and media outlets.

Indirect negotiations are underway in Doha, Qatar, between Israel and Hamas to finalize a deal that includes a ceasefire and prisoner exchange.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since October 2023, killing over 58,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and a spread of disease.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.