Israel raids, demolishes 2 water harvesting ponds in Jenin

Israeli occupation forces today demolished two water harvesting ponds in the village of Jalameh, located north of Jenin, reported Wafa news agency.

According to Radwan Shaaban, head of the Jalameh village council, Israeli forces raided the village with a military bulldozer and destroyed the ponds, which are owned by local Palestinian residents Abdullah Arafat Farahna and Mohammad Suleiman Ghunaim.

Earlier in the day, Israeli forces also demolished an agricultural pond in the village of Furush Beit Dajan, east of Nablus. Local sources confirmed that the pond, constructed from metal sheets and used for irrigating crops, belonged to Hani Abu Jash.

The destruction of these vital water resources has further impacted the livelihoods of the Palestinian farmers.

It comes after the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly endorsed a resolution last month calling for an end to Israel’s “unlawful” occupation of the West Bank within 12 months and called for reparations to be paid to Palestinians affected by the decades-long occupation of their land.

READ: 18 Palestinians killed in Israeli air strike on Tulkarm refugee camp

Tensions have intensified throughout the occupied West Bank as Israel persists in its offensive on the Gaza Strip, where it has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

The Israeli army has expanded its operations in the West Bank, while settler attacks have intensified, leading to the deaths of at least 742 Palestinians, injuring more than 6,200 and detaining over 11,100 others in the occupied territory, according to Palestinian figures.

In a landmark advisory opinion on 19 July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal” and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and for reparations to be paid to Palestinians.