On Wednesday 15th July 2026, the Israeli occupation launched a destructive assault on the Palestinian village of Atuf and the Al-Baqi’a Plain. The criminal attack devastated essential water infrastructure and inflicted severe damage on Palestinian agricultural lands.

At approximately 9:00 a.m., personnel from the so-called Israeli Water Authority invaded the Al-Baqi’a Plain alongside a large contingent of Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and military bulldozers. During the illegal and violent encroachment, artesian wells were demolished and the main water network, which irrigates more than 4,500 dunums planted with grapes, olives, and bananas, was destroyed. Israeli occupation personnel also stole pumps, generators, electrical equipment, surveillance systems, and other property from the targeted wells.

Specifically, Israeli apartheid authorities carried out the following acts of criminal destruction and colonial theft:

  • They demolished three artesian wells belonging to Nazeer Mohammad Ali Bisharat, Saleh Naji Bani Odeh, and Ahmad Laabisi.
  • They stole three water booster pumps.
  • They stole three electrical control panels.
  • They illegally seized electricity generators.
  • They destroyed and stole the surveillance camera systems installed at the wells.
  • They destroyed more than 800 metres of six-inch iron water pipelines.

The direct financial losses from the destruction and theft at the wells alone exceed an estimated four million shekels. The wider losses to agricultural land, crops, irrigation systems, and future production are expected to reach tens of millions of shekels.

This assault advances the Zionist settler-colonial campaign to seize Palestinian land, steal Palestinian resources, and dismantle the foundations of Palestinian life. By demolishing wells and irrigation networks, the Israeli apartheid regime attacked Palestinian farmers’ and shepherds’ ability to cultivate their land, sustain their families, and remain rooted in the Al-Baqi’a Plain.

Notably, the Israeli occupation uses illegal control over water as an instrument of colonial domination and forced displacement. Zionist colonizers destroy Palestinian infrastructure, steal Palestinian land and resources, and create conditions intended to make Palestinian agriculture impossible. This organised campaign of destruction and theft serves continued illegal settlement expansion and threatens the livelihoods of Palestinian farmers and shepherds who depend on these water resources for their livelihoods, income, and survival.