Destruction of parts of an artesian well in Ras Atiya village / Qalqilya governorate

June 1, 2022

• Violation: the destruction of parts of an artesian well.
• Location: Ras Atiya village, southeast of Qalqilya.
• Date of violation: 01/06/2022.
• The aggressor party: The Israeli occupation army.
• Affected party: Ras Attia Association for Agricultural Development.
• Details of the violation:

The water sector is the mainstay in the development of the agricultural sector in the villages east of Qalqilya. The occupation is trying to limit and sabotage the agricultural sector there by limiting the allocated water quota, in conjunction with the seizure of large areas of agricultural land there.

It is noteworthy that on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 1, 2022, a large force of the occupation army, accompanied by the so-called water officer of the Israeli Civil Administration, raided the village of Ras Attia, where an artesian water well was targeted, by cutting the 12 inches in diameter metal water pipes emanating from the artesian well, and then the artesian well opening was removed.

Moreover, the occupation, through a civilian concrete mixer which was accompanying them, pumped (9) cubic meters of concrete into the well after cutting the water pipes which were connected to it and to the opening and the well’s nozzle, which led to its significant and noticeable sabotage.

Farmer Ashraf Maraiah, a member of the agricultural committee in the village, stated:

“The targeted artesian well is owned by the Cooperative Agricultural Society for Agricultural Development in the village of Ras Atiya, which includes 51 farmers from the village. The well was licensed through the Palestinian Water Authority and is located within the lands classified “B” from the Oslo Accords, and the production capacity of the well is about 145 cubic meters per hour”.

He added:

“Since the well was established about a year ago, the occupation army has targeted the well, with visits from time to time and each time they take certain measurements of it. During the last period, we did not receive any prior notification or warning of demolishing of the well by the occupation, until we were surprised by sudden ruining if it”.

For his side, Mr. Ezz El-Din Mara’beh, head of Ras Attia village council, said:

“The importance of that well is to provide water with a cost capacity of about 500 dunams planted with guava, in addition to a large number of residential houses in the villages of Ras Atiya, Ras Tira and Habla, and it also contributes to a partial solution to the long-exacerbated water problem”.

During the past years, another artesian well was targeted in an area close to this well through a military order to stop construction. Even though the well was in the construction phase, but the occupation aims to prevent the exploitation of water resources there despite its importance to the population and the agricultural sector as a whole in the area.

The village of Ras Atiya is subjected to a fierce attack by the Israeli occupation. During the past two years, no less than 60 dunums of land have been bulldozed in the village, not to mention that no less than 18 farmers in the village have been notified, claiming that they are exploiting agricultural lands that the occupation described as “state lands.”

It should be noted that the village of Ras Attia is located 12 km south of Qalqilya. Its agricultural land is 2,083 dunums, of which 1,000 dunams were confiscated in favor of expanding the neighboring settlement of “Elfe Menashe”. The population of Ras Atiya village reached 1890 people until 2018, as they are originally from the neighboring town of Kafr Thulth, and there are three main families in the village: Maraya, Shawahna, and Ghuraba. The residents depend for most of their livelihood on agriculture in the village.

It is mentioned that the apartheid wall destroyed and looted 141 dunums of its lands under its track, and isolated 28 dunums behind it. The length of the wall on the lands of Ras Atiyah village is 1410 m. According to the Oslo agreement, the village lands are classified into 310 dunams in areas B, and 626 dunams in areas C, that is, under the full security and administrative control of the Israeli occupation.