Settlers Divert Palestinian Water; US Slams Siege

Israeli settlers have diverted a freshwater spring that Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank depended on for generations and used it to fill a pool advertised as a tourist attraction, Reuters reported Friday from the Jordan Valley village of Fasayil.

At the same time, in the village of Qusra, settlers have kept up a siege of Palestinian homes for almost a week — cutting electricity and water and blocking a road — in what residents say is a push to drive them off their land.

The siege has drawn criticism from Washington. White House officials are pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly condemn it, according to a U.S. official and an Israeli official who described the discussions to Reuters on condition of anonymity. Netanyahu has not commented on Qusra.

What Happened at the Spring

Settlers seized farmer Saad Nemer's irrigation pipeline in June and channeled the water to an ancient pool at an archaeological site, Reuters reported. Settlers then advertised the pool as an Israeli tourist attraction, and Israel's far-right finance minister pledged financial support for it.

"Our water supply remains cut off to this day, depriving us of the water we depend on for our homes, our livelihoods, and our agricultural land," Nemer told Reuters. He said settlers are "now in the process of developing a recreational park around the pool."

France 24 reported that settlers are now estimated to control 95 percent of the springs in the northern Jordan Valley, pushing Palestinian communities off their land as crops wither.