Foreign-funded aid projects in West Bank face rising vandalism amid Gaza war
▶ Settler violence has cost European donors dearly, writes Thomas Helm
In pitch darkness, two Palestinian men rush towards the sound of running water. Their worst fears are soon confirmed. Israeli settlers have punctured two water tanks that supply their rural community.
As they shout into their phones and at each other, water, already in short supply, spills out on to the ground.
Videos like this one, taken by residents in the small shepherding community of Khirbet a-Tuba, paint a grim picture of life in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli settlers have increased their attacks on Palestinians and vandalism of their property.
NGO Comet-ME, which provided the water tanks, estimates that it has lost €200,000 ($216,000) worth of material since October 7.
Before the Israel-Gaza war, the NGO, founded in 2009, had documented only four cases of settler vandalism.
“We’ve had many incidents targeting our water infrastructure, which have a financial cost, but also mean that the communities lose thousands of litres of precious water,” said Comet-ME employee Tamar Cohen.
“The monetary damage to our electricity systems is naturally higher, due to the cost of components.”
The damaged tanks will need to be replaced as soon as possible, probably funded from the foreign aid budgets of European countries, the largest bloc of donors to Palestinians. The NGO’s three primary donors are Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, with Ireland also high on the list.
The National approached these four donors to understand the extent of the damage.
The Dutch Foreign Ministry said about €150,000 worth of damage had been done to the equipment it had donated.
“The damage to Dutch-funded infrastructure in the Comet-ME project has been regularly on the agenda in talks with the Israeli authorities,” the ministry told The National. It stopped short of threatening legal action, but confirmed it was investigating the incidents, after which it will “consider follow-up steps”.
Ireland’s Foreign Ministry revealed that two of its projects with Comet-ME had been vandalised since October 7.
While the German Foreign Ministry said it was aware of “incidents of settler vandalism involving Comet-ME infrastructure”, it did not give an estimate of the damage, nor say whether it had raised the issue with Israel.
Britain’s Foreign Office did not comment on incidents relating to Comet-ME, but condemned “violent acts committed by extremist settlers, which are terrorising Palestinian communities”.
All four ministries stressed the danger settler violence poses to the West Bank, and reaffirmed their commitment to support Palestinians.
Israel, which is responsible for the region’s security, has done nothing to stop the attacks, human rights groups say.
“The donors who support these communities are aware of the risks,” Ms Cohen said.
“They understand that the risk that something they fund will be destroyed is far smaller than the risk – for the communities – of not doing anything in the first place.”
As violence, theft and vandalism by settlers soar in the West Bank, aid organisations such as Comet-ME will need to keep the funds flowing.
“If we were not to provide electricity, water and internet because we were afraid it would be stolen or vandalised, then 10,000 people would be without those services,” Ms Cohen said.
The situation in the West Bank is close to eruption. The region has been hit by an economic crisis since October 7, while Israel’s forces have increased their raids, killing and arresting many.
Israel’s Shin Bet security agency has been issuing increasingly frantic warnings about the situation in the West Bank in recent weeks. However, Israel’s far-right government does not seem to be listening.
Israeli human rights activist Yehuda Shaul says the issue goes beyond violent settlers.
“The story is an entire Israeli system that does almost nothing to enforce the law on settlers, basically granting them complete impunity,” he said.
Israeli authorities are taking no action to halt settler violence, hence the importance of European partners, who, as allies of Israel, should be able to use their influence, activists say.
Palestinian and Israeli activists have been calling on the international community to use its influence to stop the destruction and rapid depopulation of these areas.
In October, more than 30 human rights organisations and NGOs signed an open letter calling for an end to “the state-backed wave of settler violence which has led, and is leading to, the forcible transfer of Palestinian communities in the West Bank”.
“With grave concern and with a clear understanding of the political landscape, we recognise that the only way to stop this forcible transfer in the West Bank is a clear, strong and direct intervention by the international community,” the letter read. “Now is the time to act.”
As settler violence, theft and vandalism soar in the West Bank, aid organisations will need to keep the funds flowing