Israel seizes equipment for operating a well in West Bank town Israeli forces raided Qarawat Bani Hassan in the occupied West Bank, seizing equipment and tools used to operate an artesian well in the town, local sources told Wafa news. The move is the latest measure taken by Israel against Palestinians in the West Bank, depriving them of access to water sources, particularly in agricultural areas dependent on them for drinking and sanitation. Data released by the Pacific Institute, a thinktank which tracks water conflicts, in November revealed that Israeli armed forces and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza attacked Palestinian water sources more than 250 times in the past five years. This amounts to the most sustained assault on civilian water supplies in recent years, according to the report - suggesting a targeted attack on Palestinians’ access to drinking water infrastructure, irrigation and sanitation sites necessary for survival. “Israel has systematically used water to displace and segregate the Palestinian population in their own territories… as part of its strategy of apartheid and progressive colonisation,” UN special rapporteur Pedro Arrojo-Adudo told the Guardian. An estimated 90 perent of water and sanitation facilities in Gaza have been destroyed in targeted attacks, while snipers routinely shoot at Palestinians collecting water at distribution points.