16/1/2026 – Union for Justice Foundation
The Union for Justice Foundation affirms that what the western countryside of Bethlehem Governorate is witnessing—specifically in the villages of Nahalin, Battir, Husan, Al-Walaja, Al-Jaba‘a, and Wadi Fukin—is a systematic process aimed at dismantling the social and economic fabric of Palestinians by targeting their natural resources and stripping them of their food sovereignty. This rural area, which constitutes the food basket of the region with one-third of its land classified as green agricultural land, is today subjected to a fierce settler assault aimed at forcibly displacing residents from their land without any guarantees. This is carried out through a variety of tools, including land confiscation, pollution of springs, and denial of access to natural resources—constituting a clear violation of the principles of international humanitarian law and relevant United Nations resolutions.
The series of environmental degradation in “Ein Fares” began in the 1990s, when the settlement of “Beitar Illit,” established on village lands, deliberately began pumping its sewage toward the spring’s lands. This ongoing assault transformed the spring’s water into a polluted stream unfit for human or agricultural use, resulting in damage to vast areas ranging between 300 and 500 dunums of the finest lands that were cultivated with summer and winter crops and fruit-bearing trees such as olives and grapes. The damage did not stop there; it extended to the groundwater reservoir and the soil, as sewage discharge leads to clogging of soil pores and increased salinity, rendering the land unproductive, in addition to the spread of foul odors, epidemics, and harmful insects.
Systematic Pollution of Springs and Soil in Nahalin – “Ein Fares”
A careful reading of the economic reality in the village of Nahalin reveals alarming figures reflecting the magnitude of suffering: approximately 11.5% of the population lives below the poverty line, while the unemployment rate has reached 11.8%. These negative indicators are a direct result of siege policies and land confiscation; the occupation has seized 4,283 dunums of the village’s land for the benefit of eight illegal settlements and bypass roads, inhabited by more than 80,000 settlers. This settlement expansion does not merely confiscate spatial space; it creates suffocating livelihood crises by turning reclaimed agricultural lands into a “colonial reserve” that can later be easily controlled after destroying their productive value and polluting their water resources, such as “Ein Fares.”
At the Union for Justice Foundation, we emphasize that this pollution is not an incidental occurrence, but rather a colonial tool aimed at transforming reclaimed Palestinian lands into a “colonial reserve” that can be seized after farmers are forced out. Field reports in 2023 documented settlers pumping massive quantities of sewage, causing widespread crop damage in Nahalin—described by international reports, including that of the Norwegian Refugee Council, as a serious threat to Palestinians’ food and health security. This environmental warfare is accompanied by severe military restrictions and earth mounds that prevent farmers from accessing their lands, leading to the collapse of the local agricultural economy and rising poverty and unemployment rates in the village.
The humanitarian and rights-based dimension of this tragedy is evident in the direct targeting of the livelihoods of women farmers in Nahalin, who lost their sole source of income due to soil and water contamination from sewage originating in the “Beitar Illit” settlement. Depriving these women and families of work on their land—historically abundant with wheat, olives, and grapes—has eroded the historic relationship between the Palestinian people and their land, a relationship that embodies the core of identity and community stability. As a result of these violations, purchasing power has declined and the risks of food insecurity have increased, prompting some families to consider forced migration or to seek work outside the collapsed agricultural sector. What the occupation practices is a compounded crime that begins with polluting resources and ends with undermining the food sovereignty of the Palestinian family.
Assassination of the Palestinian Environment
From a legal perspective, the Union for Justice Foundation stresses that denying farmers access to “Ein Fares” through earth mounds and military restrictions constitutes a blatant violation of the right to water, food, and a dignified life, as guaranteed by Article (11) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Repeated attacks by armed settlers and the prevention of olive harvesting reflect the occupation’s desire to undermine Palestinians’ fundamental rights to a healthy, safe, and stable environment. These practices violate basic rights enshrined in international conventions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, necessitating urgent international intervention to halt these assaults and protect sustainable water resources. Continued international silence toward these policies gives armed settlers a green light to persist in their attacks and prevent farmers from exercising their legitimate rights.
Despite the harshness of this reality, testimonies from the local community in Nahalin emerge as a beacon of resilience and steadfastness; farmer “Um Musa” affirms that the land once cultivated with wheat and cucumbers will remain with its owners despite all difficulties. This popular resilience requires institutional and international legal support to ensure farmers’ free access to their lands and to stop the flow of settler pollutants. At the Union for Justice Foundation, we call upon the international community and human rights and governmental bodies to assume their responsibilities in protecting “Ein Fares” as a historical and environmental heritage, and to guarantee Palestinians’ right to utilize their natural resources to enhance their survival and human dignity. We also call for pressure on the occupation authorities to immediately halt sewage discharge and to ensure free access for farmers—men and women—to their fields. Justice requires the protection and preservation of “Ein Fares” as a sustainable resource, to ensure human dignity and food security for the Palestinian people who refuse to be broken by policies of marginalization and displacement.
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