Israeli forces today denied Palestinian shepherds access to water wells in Birin village, south of Hebron, according to a local official.
Coordinator of the Protection and Steadfastness Committees in Masafer Yatta, Fouad al-Amour, told WAFA that Israeli forces and staff of the so-called Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) barged their way into a historical water well in the village and threatened to punish local shepherds if they approach or water their flocks from it, purportedly for being classified as archaeological.
He added that the soldiers and IAA staff stormed al-Jaza area, took photos of another well and ordered Palestinians not to use it citing the same pretext.
Located to the southwest of Bani Na‘im, Birin has a population of 160 and is flanked by Bani Haiver colonial settlement from the east and the settler-only bypass Road No. 60 from the west. Its residents were originally expelled from Naqab in southern Israel and now depend on agriculture and livestock as their main source of livelihood.
Israel uses the Jewish nationalist name “Judea and Samaria” to refer to the occupied West Bank to reinforce its bogus claims to the territory and to give them a veneer of historical and religious legitimacy.
There are almost over 700,000 Israeli settlers living in colonial settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israel’s nation-state law that passed last July stated that building and strengthening the settlements is a “national interest.”
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)