Fact
Residents of Kafr Qaddum, like other Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, do not have consistent access to running water because Israel controls their water supply. They must stock up on water during supply hours, and store their reserves in rooftop water tanks that can hold between 500–1,000 litres of water for use during the many hours when there is no running water.
Since the beginning of April, Israel has shot and damaged the water tanks on residents’ homes as retaliation for their weekly protests against Israel’s land confiscations and its closure of the village’s exit routes. This new tactic of suppression is causing hundreds of dollars of damage and significant loss of water resources for the community.
Soldiers damaged 24 water tanks, in some cases shooting the same water tanks multiple times over the month. Families have lost more than 450 litres of water in one day.
Residents try to temporarily patch the holes with screws and glue, but eventually must buy new tanks, which are costly, especially during the COVID-19 crisis when many people face new financial hardships in addition to Israel’s restrictions on movement and employment.
Since the villagers began their weekly marches in 2011, they have been met with escalating forms of violence by Israeli forces. Between 2011 and 2014, two residents were disabled for life. One man is unable to speak since he was shot in the mouth with a tear gas canister. Another man was blinded by a rubber bullet shot in his eyes. In 2014, a man suffocated and died from tear gas inhalation.
After 2014, Israeli soldiers began using .22 caliber bullets. Between 2014 and 2016 they injured more than 85 people, many of them children. In July 2019, the soldiers shot a 10-year-old boy in the head, causing severe brain damage.
Sources: Middle East Monitor, Mondoweiss, Mondoweiss, Btselem
