A new report from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has laid bare the devastating environmental and economic consequences of the unlawful discharge of untreated wastewater from Israeli settlements into Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank.
In both sites researched for the report, wastewater, including human sewage and animal waste, flowing from illegal Israeli settlements for long distances has damaged crops and knocked agricultural Palestinian lands out of use.
“Once more, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank pay a heavy price for Israel’s unrelenting settlement expansion policies,” said Samah Hadid, NRC’s Middle East and North Africa Head of Advocacy. “This time, their land, livelihoods, and well-being are threatened by the harmful dumping of hazardous wastewater.
“We urge the international community, particularly Israel’s staunchest allies, to exert pressure on Israel, the occupying power, to safeguard Palestinian communities, lands, and resources from the detrimental effects of disposed waste,” said Hadid. “It is imperative that affected farmers and communities not only receive reparations but also receive the support to recover and improve their conditions.”
Laboratory analysis commissioned by NRC at two sites, Wadi Shakhit in Hebron and around the Immanuel industrial zone in Qalqilya, supports the long-standing complaints of Palestinian farmers and landowners that untreated wastewater was released from Israeli settlements into Palestinian lands. The samples from the Wadi Shakhit and Immanuel industrial zone vicinity showed the presence of fecal-associated E. coli bacteria in high quantities, which indicates recent sewage or animal waste contamination.
“Israel’s settlements routinely contaminate critical water systems and agricultural lands with wastewater, exacerbating environmental risks, further destabilizing the already fragile Palestinian economy, and heightening the likelihood of various diseases like diarrhea and kidney failure,” added Hadid.
According to farming communities interviewed in the research, untreated wastewater discharge has led to a steep decline in income as a result of reduced crop yields and difficulties in marketing produce associated with sewage contamination.
Farmers at one of the research sites said they have lost up to 70 per cent of the total olive tree harvest compared to pre-discharge times. A significant drop of 50-70 per cent in annual income from agriculture was also reported by affected farming communities as part of the research.
Ahmed, a farmer close to the Immanuel industrial zone said, “Wastewater has extensively flooded my land. A salt layer now covers the soil, significantly impacting the quality of the produced oil from my olive groves. Olive trees each used to yield no less than 25 kilograms of olives, but today production has dropped by half.”
In addition to its environmental and economic threats, the discharge of wastewater serves to drive Palestinians from their lands and heighten the risk of expropriation, thereby contributing to Israel’s forcible transfer of Palestinians and the ongoing annexation of West Bank territory, raising questions about Israel’s adherence to international law.
NRC calls for sufficient funding and technical support to be made available for projects mitigating the environmental and economic impacts of settlement waste disposal on affected Palestinian communities, lands, and resources.