LONDON: Israeli settlers on Wednesday vandalized a water pipeline supplying the Bedouin community of Arab Al-Tabna, located east of occupied East Jerusalem.
The attack deprived families of their sole source of water, exacerbating their already difficult living conditions in the arid Jordan Valley, according to Palestine News Agency.
The Arab Al-Tabna community is located adjacent to a main road connecting Jerusalem and Jericho, near Khan Al-Ahmar, also known as Mishor Adumim.
The latest attack is part of a series of repeated violations targeting Bedouin communities in the Jordan Valley, the Palestinian Authority said. On Monday, settlers established a new illegal settlement outpost near the Palestinian town of Al-Auja, located close to Jericho.
The Israeli government has postponed a plan to evict 18 Palestinian Bedouin communities of almost 4,000 people from Khan Al-Ahmar, amid pressure from European countries and human rights groups.
The area is located within the planned E1 settlement, and the plan would effectively divide the occupied West Bank in half and eliminate any hope for a viable and territorially connected Palestinian state. The Israeli government also plans to annex the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea, covering almost 30 percent of the West Bank territory.
Violence by settlers against Palestinians includes arson of properties and mosques, stone-throwing, and uprooting crops and olive trees. About 1 million Israeli settlers reside in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which is considered a violation of international law.
