As the water shortage crisis in Kufr ‘Aqab persists unabated, the state has officially acknowledged the acute problem affecting the East Jerusalem neighborhood and committed to address it, while refusing responsibility and blaming the Palestinian Authority (PA) instead.

In August, human rights organizations representing hundreds of Palestinian residents filed petitions with the Israeli Supreme Court demanding immediate adequate water provision to the neighborhood,1 which was shunted beyond the Separation Wall over two decades ago at which point the municipality sharply reduced the provision of services there (see The Separation Wall and Neighborhoods beyond the Wall).

In the wake of the petitions, representatives from the Water Authority and the Gihon Company visited Kufr ‘Aqab and met with residents, recognizing the urgent need for installing drinking water distribution stations, although implementation is contingent on obtaining security clearances.

A month later, residents report that nothing has been done.

This week, Israel’s Water Authority and Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen filed their official response to the petition that had been filed August 7, 2024, by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and Ir Amim.2 In it, they blamed the PA for the water shortage and would only commit to increase the flow of water partially by mid-2025—contingent upon the PA carrying out infrastructure works so the water can be received.3

To gain a deeper understanding into the water crises in Kufr ‘Aqab—its causes, harmful effects on public health, society, economy, and family life—on September 9, 2024, we spoke with Suhad Bishara, legal director and director of the Land and Planning Rights Unit at Adalah—The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, which also filed its own petition to the Supreme Court on August 19, 2024.4

Jerusalem Story (JS): Please introduce yourself to our readers.

Suhad Bishara (SB): My name is Suhad Bishara. I’m a human rights lawyer. I’ve been working for Adalah for the past 23 years. I focus predominantly, but not only, on land and planning issues, infrastructure, and availability of services. And this is how I got to the water issue in Kufr ‘Aqab.

JS: What is the current situation as far as the availability of water in Kufr ‘Aqab?

SB: The current reality of water in Kufr ‘Aqab is really severe. We are talking about fresh running water being available for only between one and a half and two and a half days weekly, depending on which area. In Kufr ‘Aqab, over 100,000 residents are affected. And every year we have increasing numbers of people that are affected.

Once a Palestinian rural village on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Kufr ‘Aqab was split by Israel in 1967. The larger part of it was forcibly incorporated into the city’s expanded boundaries, while the smaller part remained in the West Bank and later came under the PA’s governance. In 2002, when Israel built the Separation Wall, this densely populated Palestinian neighborhood was effectively severed from the city, leaving behind a single military checkpoint.

Putting aside the issue of illegality of annexation to Jerusalem, the water supplier for Kufr ‘Aqab is the water company in Ramallah [in the West Bank]. The water company got this from a water authority in the PA that buy the water from Mekorot [the national water company of Israel].

Now, under Israeli law, the authorities responsible for supplying water in Kufr ‘Aqab are Mekorot, the Israeli Water Authority, and the municipality, which basically has its own company that supplies water and the sewage system for all of the areas under its jurisdiction.

However, since we are talking about infrastructure that existed prior to 1967, that sets the basis for the water supply. So the Ramallah company remained supplying the water, getting it again from Israel.

This is a much wider and more complicated issue—because the PA buys the water basically from Israel, although Israel extracts the water, or a lot of it, from the West Bank.

As far as we know, we haven’t seen any agreement between any Israeli authority and the Ramallah authority concerning the specific supply of water for Kufr ‘Aqab.

Now, the Israeli authorities say, “We’re not responsible. We sell the water for the Palestinians, and the Palestinians decide how to divide the water for the West Bank generally, including for Kufr ‘Aqab.” So, they say, “although we are responsible under Israeli law, we are de facto not responsible.”

We say that regardless of whether it’s the Ramallah company or any other company, there is a legal obligation to supply water for Kufr ‘Aqab 24-7. And you [Israel] should make sure that that happens, even through the Ramallah company.

We didn’t reach any legal consent with the Israeli authorities, so we petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court.

The legal framework is also multilayered here. There is the Israeli law that was basically imposed on the area because of the illegal annexation. But this is what rules de facto.

And of course, you have obligations under international law that also include the obligation to supply water, to make it available for everyone in Kufr ‘Aqab and elsewhere.

JS: How does the lack of water affect daily life?

SB: As a result of the lack of water, everyone is affected, every institution is affected.

We’re talking, of course, about thousands of households—that lack of water affects all of the family members, including children, including women. And maybe women and children are much more affected, because this is where they spend most of their time.

It has a lot of hygienic effects on the household, the individual family members, and the schools.

As an example, as a result of the lack of water, I've met one principal of one school in Kufr ‘Aqab. All he thinks about is how to get water, because there is no running water. And as a result, people have to buy water.

JS: Can you describe in detail what residents have to do to get water and also what’s the quality of water that they get?

SB: Well, during the one and a half days, people try to store water. Residents have these huge plastic tanks on the roof of each building, which is a hazard in and of itself, because it is not safe. You have huge amounts of water in these huge gallons on the roof of each building, which is also not safe for maintenance, and also not safe in terms of storing water, because it is sitting still in plastic under the sun most of the time. And it’s not safe in terms of construction, because those tanks are very heavy and it’s moving water.

In order to keep water supply on hand as much as possible for the “off” days, they buy water from private suppliers. They have to pay privately, and they pay a price that is like 10 times higher than the price they usually get from the Ramallah company or any other governmental company.

So it’s a huge financial burden for all of the families to get the basic water supply that they need, like drinking water, cleaning, laundry, whatever. I’m not even talking about sick people.

Another aspect is schools. Again, the budget of the school needs to be cut simply to get water from private suppliers.

Now these private suppliers—this water is not inspected, so you can never know its quality. This water cannot be used for drinking unless it’s boiled.

The lack of water has many downstream adverse effects. For example, if you go into schools two to three hours after the day starts, the hygienic situation in the bathrooms is very bad. A lot of times, principals need to decide to send children home earlier, shortening classes from 45 minutes to 30 minutes, or rotate during the week which classes learn on which day, in order to keep things a bit more reasonable in terms of hygienic conditions in the school.

Clinics are affected. There’s one hospital in the area, a small hospital, that is also affected. These all need to maneuver to buy water, the quality of which is unknowable. Then, they must store this bought water in these plastic tanks, which also affects the quality of the water, and so on.

Now this also not only has this clearly apparent physical effect, it also has economic effects. And effects on businesses.

Lack of water also has social effects. Take children, for instance. If a child needs to go to school without having had a bath, without clean water, it will affect his or her self-image. Such children tend to isolate themselves, see themselves as being different or inferior, and not socialize as much. Women the same. And they are traditionally responsible for the household.

So a lack of water has a lot of effects.

Uninspected water whose quality is unknown that is stored standing over time in plastic tanks under the sun—such water could potentially become very unhealthy, ridden with bacteria and plastic components that dissolve into the water. So healthwise, it’s also very dangerous and risky and could have long-term effects.

People who are sick at home could be more affected by a lack of clean water for drinking and consuming, cooking, and so on.

Basically, it affects all aspects of life—all aspects of education, social life, health, and economic life.

Water consumes the minds of everyone in Kufr ‘Aqab 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

JS: Are there internal familial struggles or battles over scarce water supply? Or conflict generally around it?

SB: It creates tension, because when the water is delivered on a given day, let’s say Wednesday, usually there is an online schedule posted notifying each area of the neighborhood when the water is coming during the week. As the water is delivered, residents—who try to store as much as they can during these 24 hours—pump water up to the big tanks on the roofs.

So let’s say you have a block of 10 buildings. If the first building starts to pump the water up, well, it will decrease the pressure of water for the rest. So it creates a lot of tension.

JS: You need to be home to pump, right? To make sure that you’re there in the building. How do people go to work? They have to make pumping the water the sole focus of their day.

SB: The day the water comes, someone must be home to pump it to the tanks of the buildings. So, yes, you might find yourself on Tuesday, because the water will come only that day, not being able to go to work in order to make sure that the water is pumped up the building to be able to consume it with your family.

This consumes every individual, business, institution, family, and individual mind all the time. When are we getting water? Do we have enough water? If we don’t have enough, how do we use the bathroom? How do we clean? What kind of food do we cook that doesn’t consume much water?

JS: A few questions about the Supreme Court case: How did it come to be filed? Was this the first time they've ever filed a case? And what prompted it? On whose behalf was the case filed, and what was it requesting?

SB: The water problem is ongoing for decades. During the coronavirus pandemic, it got really worse, much more than what people were used to. So we started corresponding with the authorities.

It got much better, but there still was no availability 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But somehow people managed.

This summer, things got really bad. Water was available for only hours a week, something that people had not experienced in the past. So we started again corresponding with the authorities, and we got the same excuses. “Yeah, we sell the water for Ramallah and Ramallah does not supply enough”—trying to get away with their obligations under the law, including international law in this regard.

After corresponding again and again and again for several years, we decided it’s time to petition the Supreme Court in this regard.

So we petitioned on behalf of over 200 residents of Kufr ‘Aqab, coordinated by the local committee, which is elected in Kufr ‘Aqab to lead this petition.

JS: What was the petition or case filed to the Supreme Court requesting? What remediation or what action was it demanding or how was it framed legally?

SB: The remedy that we asked for in the petition was that Kufr ‘Aqab be supplied with good quality water, with good pressure, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is what they are entitled to under Israeli law, under international law, and there’s a duty to provide it.

JS: So what’s the process?

SB: In the petition, we asked for an urgent hearing before the Supreme Court, which was scheduled pretty urgently.

During the hearing, the justices were surprised to hear that this is the situation for Kufr ‘Aqab. They had no idea, and they were surprised that it took the residents so long to petition, because we’re talking again about a basic human need.

So far, there has been this one hearing. The justices urged the authorities to try to come up with a solution. They asked the different relevant authorities to sit at one table and try to find a solution and update the court once they have.

If not, then the court will decide how to proceed with the case.

JS: Did those authorities then meet around a table?

SB: We don't know. The court sets a time frame, and my assumption is that they will abide by the time frame, because again, we are talking about an urgent matter that affects the day-to-day life and all aspects of day-to-day life of over 100,000 residents of Kufr ‘Aqab.

My assumption is that they will do that soon and update the court within roughly a month.

JS: Do you feel confident that this case is going to bear results and get relief for the residents?

SB: Yes, I think we have good chances, because it’s very well based legally. Factually, it cannot be disputed. I mean no one can dispute that lack of water has an enormous effect on the day-to-day life, on health and education, and so on. So I don’t think there will be a problem disputing the facts. The issue is mainly legal, and we think that there is a good legal basis for the argument obligating the authorities to supply water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

JS: Does Israeli law allow for some kind of punitive action against these water companies if this doesn't work, like suing them? What other recourse do people have if the Supreme Court’s direction or mandate to these parties doesn’t actually produce any change?

SB: No. The petition to the Supreme Court aims to get water to people. We do not sue for damages there.

Damages is a different legal track that every individual whom you know suffered from any kind of harm could individually sue the authorities in this regard, assuming that he or she can find the link between their damage and the lack of water.

But our demand—our goal for now—is to supply people with water. Compensation for any kind of damages is a much more complicated process that needs to go through lower courts and not to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court does not deal with damages.

JS: There are several other Palestinian neighborhoods that sit beyond the Separation Wall. Are they also experiencing a water shortage? And if so, do you think they will take legal action?

SB: Shu‘fat refugee camp had a similar problem, although there are some differences in terms of suppliers. And they sorted out the issue there, through the company that was established under Israeli law. It’s called the Hagihon company. It supplies water—or potentially should supply water—to the area under the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem Municipality.

I don’t know honestly how sufficient the solutions that were found or implemented in the Shu‘fat refugee camp are. I know there are some issues there.

The situation is better than Kufr ‘Aqab, but the water situation in Kufr ‘Aqab is the worst so far in terms of the areas that were annexed to Jerusalem.

Beit Hanina, Shu‘fat—some of them get their water from the company in Ramallah, and they get a water supply 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

So I think Kufr ‘Aqab is also a little bit complicated in terms of not only the amount of people, not only a huge area, but also politically—the fact that it’s behind the wall doesn’t help.

Because my guess is that the Israeli authorities don’t know what to do with Kufr ‘Aqab as well as Shu‘fat refugee camp politically in the future. So from their perspective, why invest?

JS: After the petition was filed, there were reports about state representatives touring the neighborhood and then promising to install water distribution stations. Please comment on that. Would this help?

SB: Yes, after we filed the petition, Israeli authorities or representatives went to Kufr ‘Aqab and verified that there is a problem with water, and then they reported back, “Yes, there is a problem.” As if they didn’t know. I mean, we corresponded with them for years.

However, the solution that they suggested for the immediate term is not sufficient, because as long as there is no running water in each household, in each building, in each clinic, in each school, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it’s not sufficient.

JS: Once the rainy season starts, does that alleviate the problem in the sense that people can capture water from the sky?

SB: No, the rainwater doesn’t change the situation in terms of water supply, because the plastic tanks on the roofs are not designed to collect rainwater. These tanks are only for pumping up from below. And Kufr ‘Aqab is very densely populated. So it’s not possible to build any such infrastructure on the ground to collect water.

JS: So the 12 hours a day of water could continue into the winter. It’s not just a summer phenomenon.

SB: No, it’s not better. Winter rain is better for plants and gardens, but not for human consumption.

I mean, definitely, lack of water. Yeah. Lack of water has a lot of effects. And it’s scientifically well documented as a matter of principle as well as, you know, buying uninspected water, storing it in plastic tanks.

JS: Suhad, thank you for your time and your insight today.