GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Some Palestinians in the West Bank governorate of Qalqilya hope to stop construction of a water pipeline Israel plans to build that threatens to destroy agricultural areas there. The residents see the project as an Israeli ploy to uproot villagers and seize land.
On April 7, Qalqilya Gov. Rafi Rawajba briefed the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights about the hardships the area faces as a result of Israel's plan.
The pipeline is to be built by Israel's national water company, Mekorot Water Co. Ltd., which is the main Israeli company pumping and supplying water to all of Israel and its settlements. The pipeline will run from western to eastern Qalqilya to supply Israeli settlements in the central West Bank provinces of Qalqilya and Salfit. Qalqilya and much of Salfit lie in Area C of the West Bank, which is under Israeli civil and military control.
The pipeline project threatens the Palestinian presence in the area, according to Mohammed Abu al-Sheikh, the official in charge of the settlements portfolio in Qalqilya. Sheikh told Al-Monitor more than 700 olive trees are being cultivated in the area, alongside some 2,600 almond and carob trees. He accused Israel of attempting, by all possible means, to seize Palestinian land and jeopardize Palestinian existence.
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