In a statement, Jihon said: "About 80,000 Palestinians in four Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem [al-Quds] and its outskirts have been suffering from complete loss of water for three days," the Middle East Monitor reported on Saturday.
The Israeli company said that it would like to supply water for all consumers in al-Quds, including Jewish and Arab citizens, but the water infrastructure in the Arab areas is decaying. It also said that the increasing number of inhabitants contributes to the problem.
Meanwhile, the Arab inhabitants at the Palestinian refugee camps of Su'fat, Ras Khamis and Ras Shihadeh, as well as al-Salam suburb, said they have been suffering from a complete water shortage for several days.
The residents said in a statement issued on Saturday that tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees and citizens in the three residential gatherings in al-Quds have been without water since the beginning of last week.
According to the statement, the Palestinians said that they did not know the reason why the water supply stopped.
The statement also blamed the company Jihon, which is the only body that has a permit to supply water to al-Quds, for the water shortages. "It started reducing water portions two weeks ago," the statement said. "And in the end it completely stopped the water."
Deputy head of the Popular Committee in Su'fat refugee camp, Khalid al-Khaldi said, "there are about 23,000 Palestinian refugees and citizens in the camp and they have not had water for three days. In Ras Shihadeh, there has been no water for 20 days."
He reiterated that there has been no water in Ras Khamis and al-Salam suburb for a long time either.
Al-Khaldi blamed the UNRWA, which is responsible for the Palestinian refugees, for the water problem. He called on the international body to immediately move to solve the problem.
Since 1948, the Israeli regime has resorted to different tactics to put pressure on Palestinians to leave their homes and towns and accept the regime’s occupation policy in Palestinian lands.
NTJ/HH