Israeli settlements threaten to engulf West Bank communities
Israel announced a project to build a water pipeline connecting two settlements in southern Nablus, which raises Palestinians' fears that a larger plan is in the works to divide the West Bank.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian officials are warning that a water pipeline Israel plans to build across southwest Nablus will wreak havoc on Palestinian agricultural lands and is a scheme to form a large settlement bloc separating Nablus from Ramallah in the West Bank.
On Dec. 9, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ramallah accused Israel of trying to impose a de facto situation, in case Israeli-Palestinian negotiations resume. The ministry said it is working with the concerned associations to prepare a case against the plan and raise the matter before international courts and organizations focusing on Israel’s settlement activity.
Officials further said they intend to expose the Israeli plan as an effort to undermine the Palestinians' dream of having their own state.
A day earlier, on Dec. 8, the Israeli authorities had issued an order to extend the water pipeline from the Shvut Rachel settlement to the Migdalim settlement. About 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) of the 7-kilometer pipeline runs through the West Bank villages of Qusra and Jalud in southern Nablus.
