Israel Bans Palestinians to Collect Rainwater
- Middle East Monitor
Israel – In October-November 2023, as Israel continued to bombard Gaza amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, a number of posts drew attention to the challenges facing Palestinians in the West Bank, particularly regarding Israel's control over access to water.
However, one of the more "unusual" issues is that Israel prohibits Palestinians from collecting rainwater, "claiming" that the water belongs to Israel.
A Reddit post claims that according to a 2011 United Nations report, "(Palestinians) living in the West Bank do not have the right to collect rainwater or build wells on their LAND because rainwater belongs to 'Israel'."
Warga Palestina mencari para korban di reruntuhan gedung di Gaza, yang hancur akibat serangan Israel.
- AP Photo/Mahmoud Abo Salamah.
A viral post on social media X also stated, "Rainwater belongs to 'Israel'. Palestinians are forbidden to collect rainwater" and also quoted a UN report.
Many netizens were upset, and asked whether Palestinians are indeed prohibited by Israeli authorities from collecting rainwater for "household and agricultural needs."
The above claim is taken from an actual report by an independent human rights organization submitted to the UN body in 2011, which found that Palestinians in the West Bank were unable to collect rainwater for their needs.
The report is titled, "Israeli human rights violations related to water and sanitation in the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territory)" and is considered a non-UN document.
It was written by the Emergency Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (EWASH) group, a coalition of nearly 30 organizations working in the water and sanitation sector in the occupied Palestinian territory, and Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights organization in the West Bank.
Warga Palestina mengantre air bersih.
- AP Photo/Fatima Shbair.
The document was submitted in September 2011 to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), a body of independent experts at the United Nations.
The report refers to a special Israeli military order in 2009 stating that rainwater belongs to Israel.
"In July 2009, Israeli military forces issued a stop work order and/or demolition of reservoirs under construction in the village of Tuwani, despite the Tuwani villagers facing severe water shortages due to drought, and the need for increasingly stringent movement restrictions by Israel ... to collect tank water, and attacks on water resources and infrastructure by Israeli settlers. If built, these reservoirs would significantly alleviate the water crisis for the Tuwani community,"
