Impact of Israeli Settlement Wastewater Disposal in the West Bank

The confiscation of land belonging to Palestinians and the ongoing construction of illegal Jewish settlements by the Israeli Occupation Authority puts a strain on land and environmental resources in the Palestinian territories themselves.

This is exacerbated by excessive waste disposal, construction of apartheid roads and exploitation of natural resources, The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) reported, quoted by MINA Wednesday.

Evidence shows that a large amount of residential wastewater is dumped on Palestinian land, which has serious health implications for the local population.

“We will explain the serious environmental impact of the disposal of residential wastewater in the occupied West Bank,” Mahmoud Al-Saifi, agricultural engineer and director of the Soil Research Center in Nablus, told PIC.

Environmental impact

Al-Saifi said large amounts of raw wastewater discharged by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem threatens to pollute the West Bank Aquifer.

According to him, a large amount of wastewater is untreated sewage that flows into the Palestinian valleys and into agricultural lands.

He pointed out that there are around 198 Jewish settlements and 315 checkpoints built illegally in the West Bank, which creates a health hazard for many communities.

The untreated sewage water from the Jewish settlements has destroyed the land of Palestinian villages, which also causes ancient olive trees to die frequently.

Israel’s Cunning Method

Meanwhile, local Palestinian activist Khaled Maali told PIC that the Israeli occupation authorities are using devious methods to cover up the disposal of settlement wastewater on Palestinian land.

Several wastewater treatment plants were set up in illegal West Bank settlements. However, they are not sufficient to treat all the residential waste.

He points out that the impact of Jewish settlement waste affects the environment in three ways:

First, these limes cause serious changes to the topographical structure of the soil and pollute the air with large amounts of dust. In addition, the solid waste generated by the factory is burned in the open air.

Second, all the trees will die due to the pumping of waste into the farmland.

Third, untreated residential wastewater will also affect the aquifer or potable water quality in the West Bank

Jewish settlements dump about 40 million cubic meters of wastewater into Palestinian lands per year. It is estimated that 90 percent of all residential wastewater is discharged untreated directly into the West Bank valley. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)