Jordan Valley: The army limits access to water for Palestinians
So much evil emerges in every trip to the occupied West Bank. What little vision of a future. Such apartheid.
We began driving on the megalomaniac “Huwara bypass” road which connects Road 5 to Nablus and the numerous settlements around it. 3 lanes in every direction cross olive tree groves and dispossess the lands of Beita. The road even goes by a Palestinian amusement park. When one exits this freeway (which cost millions and serves no more than one-thousand cars at most, empty and fast) and passes the entrance to Burin, one arrives at the horrors of occupation – the main entrance to Nablus, a city of over 150,000 residents, closed behind an orange gate. The former Huwara Checkpoint stands desolate, deserted.
We turned into a side road leading to Itamar and Alon More settlements and forbidden to Palestinians, reaching what now serves as the main entrance to Nablus – the cultural, economic, medical and academic center of the West Bank, inhabited by 157,000 residents: a narrow, rocky road that arrives from Awarta and a soldiers’ post. How lousy, how humiliating!
We visited M. and his family who welcomed us warmly as usual. I brought them some aloe vera plants, and his sister, a person with special-needs, took me aside and showed me the charming garden of herbs she nurtures, having asked for one plant just for her.
At Hamra Checkpoint, long lines of cars wait to cross from Nablus as well as long lines headed for the eastern side. It is very hot, and not all cars are air-conditioned.
At 12 we reached the water blockage. As part of the collective punishment that Israel has been perpetrating in the West Bank following October 7th, it has blocked Palestinians from bringing water. As if it were not enough that the settlements leisurely wade in their Olympic swimming pools and Mekorot (Israeli) water company pumps all ground water in the Palestinian Jordan Valley and supplies it almost exclusively to colonies – the Palestinians remain overheated, no water. They are not even allowed to bring their own water.
The Palestinians pay a fortune to drive to the Palestinian Authority areas in order to survive. First soldiers came to open the gate at irregular hours, but lately it was decided that they would man the gate during the day, for the average family and its sheep flocks needs 2 rounds of their rusty water tankers. A few days ago, the army decided to reduce the number of hours during which Palestinians may pass the gate to 2 in the morning and 2 at noon. Which is far from enough in the summer heat. And besides – what meanness dictates closing off the way to the source of water and limits bringing it? What is the rational here except the will to make their lives so impossible that they would leave…
Location Description
'Awarta
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Awarta, an internal checkpoint in the heart of the West Bank, is located east of the Hawara checkpoint, at the junction of Roads 555 (which was forbidden for Palestinian traffic in this area) and the entrance road to Nablus. It was one of the four checkpoints that surrounded Nablus until 2009. We used to watch it at Huwwara shifts because it was the only one where goods could be transferred to and from Nablus, using the back-to-back method. It was operated by the army, from 06:00 to 20:00. Until 2009.
Ronit Dahan-RamatiJul-12-2024Awarta: a long line of cars
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Jordan Valley
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Jordan Valley The Jordan Valley is the eastern strip of the West Bank. Its area consists of almost a third of the West Bank area. About 10,000 settlers live there, about 65,000 Palestinian residents in the villages and towns. In addition, about 15,000 are scattered in small shepherd communities. These communities are living in severe distress because of two types of harassment: the military declaring some of their living areas, as fire zones, evicting them for long hours from their residence to the scorching heat of the summer and the bitter cold of the winter. The other type is abuse by rioters who cling to the grazing areas of the shepherd communities, and the declared fire areas (without being deported). The many groundwaters in the Jordan Valley belong to Mekorot and are not available to Palestinians living in the Jordan Valley. The Palestinians bring water to their needs in high-cost followers.Mahdi DrarmaMar-14-2025Al Burj: destruction of a family home
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