Hamas has banned the digging of wells since 2021. I don’t see how they would permit the harvesting of rainwater, even if there weren’t Israeli legal regulations in place (which seem to be on par with many other countries’ laws). That plus their systematic dismantling of working water infrastructure for rocket parts has had it’s effects.
Yeah, but they banned it as a bad way to deal with a water shortage problem. Israel banned it because they are pricks.
Many rural areas with Palestinians, including Palestinian citizens of Israel, aren’t even covered by the Iron Dome system because they are registered as an empty area. They also don’t get basic infrastructure that Israel would otherwise provide to any illegal settlement right away.
That would make Hamas even dumber as bombing Israel would mean a large number of unintercepted missiles will fall into areas where Palestinians live.
There’s a difference between needing a permit to collect rainwater because the water belongs to everyone, and being forbidden from collecting rainwater because the water belongs to an oppressing party.
Given the context, this seems more evil than is probably intended.
There are laws about collection and storage of rainwater all over the world unrelated to genocide. Water falling from the sky is the source of aquifers, lakes, and rivers that are important for everyone.
I work in municipal development and how rainwater is handled is a huge part of my job. It usually comes down to whatever the developer wants is bad.
They either want to collect all water and essentially deny it to everyone else so they can sell it, or they want to pave over everything and refuse to detain stormwater and flood the neighbors.
It’s not at all the same thing as Palestinians wanting water for food and crops, but a lot of the time these laws start out as something sensible before being used as a weapon.
No such laws in Russia. And it seems no such laws in Poland. No for Ukraine, no for Belarus, Kazahstan even has some bonuses if you collect rainwater, Latviya has some bonuses too.
You are definitely wrong. I work in municipal development and a developer retaining water on site beyond what is necessary to offset their increased impervious cover is something that’s highly discouraged and restricted.
Water need to go to the rivers and aquifers, and damming it up for private use is a real problem.
You could, though, for example, set up a large collection system for water that would normally be fed into a tributary that other farmers are using downstream for irrigation. A company with enough resources to collect and bottle rainwater for profit across a large area that would otherwise feed into aquifers could bleed a small farming community dry.
Right, it’s just that not all rainwater collection is inherently domestic or agricultural, and that’s why some places (ostensibly, at least) have laws restricting it, with the goal being to keep it feeding into the water cycle and not shipping it elsewhere.
I didn’t miss that part, I’m just saying that usually that’s not why laws like this are created. The stated intent of this one is likely something about protecting fragile aquifers and the real intent is gradual genocide.
To add what others said (like Israel making up rules for Palestine), the people of Palestine are being attacked and their infrastructure targeted. It is pretty evil to destroy the water supply and then say: “but you can’t get it elsewhere :)”.
I don’t think this is necessarily the case here, but laws like this are often an attempt to offer the appearance of legitimacy to acts of violence (i.e. “yes we imprisoned them but they broke the law!”).
It can be actually. People upstream of water sources - often wealthy people with land but sometimes a collective of local farmers - build dams or retaining ponds to save the water for themselves and on a significant scale can limit the amount of water that goes downstream.
It’s illegal for me to have rain barrels off my gutters. I wanted them to use the water for my garden. I’m not in any area with existing water shortage or drought issues either.
The context is very straightfoward. It is an occupied territory. The occupier claims ownership of natural ressources in the occupied territory. This is typical imperialist behaviour and illegal under international law.
Great source! Phrased differently - can’t build a cistern without a permit - but they are certainly painted as right a-holes about it. Thanks for the source!
What is water? H2O. What does the H stand for? Hydrogen. Ever heard of hydrogen bombs?
Still think Hamas (which is all Palestinians, UN officials, and doctors in hospitals, obviously) just want water do “drink” and “not die of dehydration”?
This isn’t as bad as it sounds. Water prevented from reaching the ground in watersheds means groundwater doesn’t get replenished. Now maybe a house here and there collecting rainwater isn’t a problem, but what about Nestle? The law should allow reasonable rainwater collection by individuals or family households while preventing theft of water from a region.
Rainwater collection laws in the US are based on conservation and fair allocation of a scarce resource.
In places that don’t have scarcity, you actually have the opposite issue, where drainage might be restricted or mandated to prevent issues from harming your neighbors.
I can’t build a dam on my property because it might flood my neighbor. People in the southwest can’t collect water at will because it might dry out their neighbors.
It’s actually not uncommon to have laws that restrict gathering rain water in many places. Lots of US states do as well. If water is collected locally on a mass scale, it messes with water tables/rivers/lakes/etc.
Forbidding it when a place doesnt have otherwise dependable water infastructure is inhuman however.
A graphic representation of the unfair restrictions is that while many Jewish settlements have swimming pools, Palestinians in “Area C” of the West Bank are not allowed cisterns for collecting rainwater.
Add comment