Smashed pipes, blocked off wells: Taps run dry in the West Bank as Israeli settlers target Palestinians’ water | CNN

When the masked men sliced through the metal fence of the water-pumping station on a dark February evening and ran toward the squat building, the four workers inside panicked. Three fled; the fourth stayed behind. He jumped into a manhole and crouched in the cramped, dank space for 90 minutes. Above him, the attackers shattered monitors, severed electrical wires and smashed pipes. This is the threat faced by those who work in the Ein Samia pumping station in the occupied West Bank, said Mohammad Abu Ayyash, water operations director at the Jerusalem Water Undertaking, a regional public water utility, as he recounted the story of the attack to CNN. The station, northeast of Ramallah, is a vital water hub, supplying around 100,000 Palestinians across more than 20 communities. It’s also become a target for attacks by extremist Israeli settlers. Since the beginning of the year, Ayyash said they have attacked Ein Samia at least 10 times. The day CNN was there in late February, two weeks after the attack, two settlers pulled up in an ATV and started filming on their cell phones. They’d spotted our rental car; it wasn’t safe to stay there too long, Ayyash warned. Ein Samia is far fr