For Palestinians living in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, access to water has been a struggle for years. Interim agreements from the 1990s have allowed for a water disparity between Israelis and Palestinians, and Israel’s occupation of the West Bank has often meant Israeli settlers’ water needs are prioritized over Palestinians’.
But since last Oct. 7, when the Hamas-led attack on Israel sparked the current war in Gaza, water has been even harder to come by. In rural areas, hardline Israeli settlers are taking over freshwater springs. And many Palestinians living in West Bank cities say that tap water now flows much less frequently — sometimes just once a month. Amid growing violence and economic pain, it’s one of the less obvious but fundamental ways life has become more difficult for Palestinians in the West Bank in the past year.
