The activists say Israel continues to steal water reserves from Palestinian lands in order to attract more migrants and expand agricultural fields.

They called on the Italian government to scrap an accord that Rome’s water company ACEA signed last December with the Israeli water company Mekorot.

Some Palestinian nationals also attended the event on Saturday, which marked the World Water Day.

Last month, a group of Italian activists launched an online petition to raise awareness against the accord.

The petition launched by the Italian movements for public water, pro-Palestine groups and associations promoting peace and inter-religious dialog, complains that Israel’s water apartheid runs counter to international law.

The petitioners argued in a message sent to Rome’s mayor that Mekorot is nurturing water apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territories, thus breaching international law and human rights.

Amnesty International says Mekorot sells water at highly subsidized prices to Israeli settlers in the illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank, while about 40 percent of the water supplied to Palestinians in the same area is distributed at much higher, unsubsidized prices.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against the Israeli regime is swiftly gaining momentum all across the globe.

The movement aims to highlight the rights of the Palestinians and the Israeli occupation, with academics and non-governmental organizations worldwide enticed to cut their relations with Israel.

The European Union has issued a new directive urging the its 28 member states not to cooperate with Israeli entities that are based or even partly operate in the occupied West Bank, East al-Quds and the Golan Heights.

Israel has been under fire for its policies against Palestinians. However, the regime defies international demands to respect Palestinians’ rights.

NTJ/SHI