The destruction of Rainwater Harvesting Tanks in Palestine
In terms of water storage, Israel has blocked every possible means by which the Palestinians can collect and store water. When the drought, which has lasted for several consecutive years now, temporarily breaks and it finally rains, many Palestinian families, especially in rural areas, use cisterns and rainwater harvesting tanks, some of which are centuries old, to gather and store the precious water. However, there are many reports of the Israeli army bulldozing rain harvesting cisterns and then filling the remains with gravel and cement to ensure that the cisterns cannot be rebuilt or fixed. Israeli soldiers have also reportedly used water tanks for target practice and have confiscated others altogether.During the 22 day Gaza conflict, Israel caused more than six million dollars worth of damage to infrastructure in Gaza for water and wastewater, including the damage of pumping stations, sewage networks, 11 wells, 4 reservoirs and 20,000 meters of water mains. Sewage treatment plants were also damaged which has led to flooding, contamination and multiple health hazards.
Aisha Hereni, a mother of five young children who lives in Tuwani, told Amnesty International: "I have five children; we need water for drinking, for
cooking, for our personal hygiene, to wash the clothes, to clean the house, and for the goats. We save every drop but it's never enough. It is a daily struggle. And in addition, with the little water we have, we are constantly worried about Israeli settlers soiling the cisterns; it has happened many times. They have thrown soiled diapers, dead chickens and all sorts of garbage into our water cisterns. Also, many times we cannot get water from our cisterns because when we go to them to get water the settlers or the soldiers come and make problems for us."Above is courtesy of http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk
For full report please click on Why Israel's deliberate withholding of water from the Palestinian people has gone far beyond crisis point
