• The Violation: Pumping large amounts of wastewater into agricultural fields.
• Location: Qarawat Bani Hassan / Salfit Governorate.
• Violation Date: 06/04/2020.
• Perpetrators: the colony of “Kiryat Netafim”.
• Affected party: the people of the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan.

Violation details:

On the southern hills of the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan in Salfit Governorate, the settlers from the settlement of “Kiryat Netafim” continue to pump wastewater towards the olive fields in the area known as “Abu Zuwair” and on both sides of the bypass road No. 505 leading to the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan.

During the field follow-up of the Land Research Center’s researcher, it was observed that settlers pump large quantities of wastewater (untreated), from one of the ponds on both sides of the aforementioned colony, towards the valley next to the bypass road, to travel a distance of no less than 250 meters and then settle in fields planted with olives trees and located south of the town.  This action, actually, causes severe negative impacts on the lives of the citizens, and threatens the environment and agriculture in the area.

The area of ​​land directly affected by waste water flooding is about 3 dunums, planted with olive trees, and there are other of olive orchard indirectly affected by the spread the spread of diseases and insects.

Photo 1: A  wastewater pool in  citizens’ lands

Photo 2: “Kiryat Netafim” settlement

 

Mr. Tamer Rayan, head of the Municipal Council of Qarawat Bani Hassan, told LRC’s researcher the following:

“This wastewater is considered a real threat to life in the region, as it is used by the occupation as a means of spreading insects and agricultural pests in an area crowded with agriculture, and it, also, has a negative impact on agricultural soil that have become unfit for cultivation and production. The municipality of Qarawat Bani Hassan, in coordination with the Palestinian Civil Liaison office ( DCO), submitted a number of complaints over the past years to the Israeli police, but no action has been taken so far on their side. At a time when the occupation authorities claim that it is a state that maintains international environmental conventions, we see that it is standing – with great negligence – in front of what is happening. Indeed, that problem has become exacerbated so that the Palestinian people remain the only looser in that equation”.

 

It is noteworthy that the colony of “Kiryat Netafim” took its name from the ancient Roman well of “Nutiv” on the lands of the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan, where the colony was established at the beginning of the eighties of the last century on the lands of the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan and the lands of the neighboring village of Sarta.

Now a days, there are approximately 480 settlers who live in the colony, according to the index of the “Middle East Peace” Foundation. Most of them are religious extremists.

During the past few years, that colony expanded to double what it was previously, consuming dozens of agricultural dunums that were previously confiscated by the occupation under racist military decisions.

A glimpse on the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan:

The village of Qarawat Bani Hassan is located 12 km northwest of the city of Salfit, and it is bordered to the north by the village of Deir Istiya, to the west by the village of Bidya, to the east by the villages of Deir Istiya and Haris, and to the south by the village of Sarta.

• Its population was (5513) according to the census of the year (2017).
• Its total area is 9,443 dunums, of which 565 dunums are a built-up area.

About 324 dunums of the town’s land has been confiscated for settlement  construction as followed:

• The settlement of Burkan, established in 1981 has confiscated 144 dunum;
• The settlement of Kiryat Netafim, edsablished in 1980 has confiscated 182 dunums.

An additional 192 dunums were seized for the building of settler’s bypass road No. 505.

Classification of the town’s land by  Oslo Agreement:

• Areas classified as B (849 dunums).
• Areas classified as C (8,594 dunums).