Land Research Center

Violation :  Demolition of a water harvesting cistern under the pretext of lacking permits

Location :  Jinsafut village ,east of Qalqiliya

Date : February, 6^th , 2025

Perpetrator : The so- called building inspector of the Israeli civil administration

Affected party :  Farmer Abd Alqader Saber Abd Alqader Dar Jaber

Details :

‘’On Thursday, February, 6, 2025, Israeli occupation forces raided jinsafut  village, located east of Qalqiliya, and stormed the ‘’ Wadi Ibrahim ‘’area southeast of the village. Israeli occupation targeted an old historical water harvesting cistern, that was used for irrigating trees. The cistern has a capacity of 40 m³. In addition to, the occupation forces reportedly carried out bulldozing a  50 meters of a concrete area around the cistern.

This cistern belongs to farmer Abd Alqader Saber Abd Alqader Dar Jaber, who supports family of 4 members, 2 of them are females.’’

It is worth noting that Israeli occupation in coordination with the so- called building inspector of the Israeli civil administration, used a special civilian bulldozer to destroy the cistern, occurred simultaneously with the demolition of another agricultural water pool belonging to farmer Saher Mohammad Ayesh , located just a few meters away from this cistern.

The farmer affected, Abd Alqader Saber Abd Alqader Dar Jaber, told to LRC researcher : 

‘’The targeted cistern has been in place for 70 years, It was used to provide irrigation water for about 4 dunams of land planted with fruitful olive trees. In the past , it was also used to supply drinking water for sheep and the farming families that lived in the area several decades ago. We were recently surprised by the complete demolition of the cistern by the occupation, under the pretext of lacking permits. Despite the fact that I had recently curried out some repairs on it by adding a concrete area to facilitate water harvesting .

Jinsafut Village:

  Located 17 km southeast of Qalqilya city, Jinsafut covers an area of 8,659 dunums, of which 218 dunums are built-up. The population was approximately 2,571 as of 2017. The village has been a victim of Israeli settlements, with about 688 dunums taken: 538 dunums for the 'Nofei Uranim' settlement and 150 dunums for the 'Karnei Shomron' settlement.

Targeting Agricultural Lands and Demolishing Wells :

Targeting wells, water tanks, and ponds also increases drought and desertification in agricultural lands, leading to complete destruction. The occupation’s policy of preventing and destroying wells is systematic, followed by the occupation army and settlers, who also target water springs, polluting or controlling them, as seen with Ein al-Sakut in the Jordan Valley and Ein Helwa, among others.

According to Land Research Center’s field team, during (7-10-2023) – (31-12-2024), the occupation army demolished 113wells, water tanks, and artesian wells with a capacity of cubic meters, and destroyed 9 water lines totaling 2525 meters. These wells irrigated 2172 dunums of agricultural land, resulting in the destruction of crops due to the loss of irrigation sources.

Settlers’ attacks on Palestinian water resources have intensified. Land Research Center reports that settlers have destroyed or polluted/looted 18 water wells, 121 water tanks, 810 water cisterns, and confiscated 20 water pumps, 14 water networks totaling 2950 meters, and 7 water springs.

 مشروع: حماية الحقوق البيئية الفلسطينية في مناطق "ج" SPERAC IV - GFFO

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of Land Research Center and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the project donor; the Norwegian Refugee Council.

إخلاء المسؤولية: الآراء ووجهات النظر الواردة في هذا التقرير هي آراء ووجهات نظر مركز أبحاث الأراضي ولا تعكس بالضرورة وجهات نظر أو مواقف الجهة المانحة للمشروع؛ المجلس النرويجي. للاجئين