Most homes in the West Bank settlements under the Samaria Regional Council are connected to a sewage collection system, but instead of being linked to a regional pipeline, the sewage is discharged into open areas outside the settlements
Zafrir Rinat. November 30 2025
A resident of the West Bank settlement of Peduel filed a precedent-setting lawsuit earlier this month demanding that the Samaria Regional Council address the flow of sewage from settlements under its jurisdiction into open areas.
Sewage from several settlements in the area has been polluting local streams because of inadequate or entirely absent sewage infrastructure. Despite this, new housing continues to be built, since, unlike within the Green Line, the establishment of settlement communities and neighborhoods in the West Bank is not contingent on constructing sewage infrastructure.
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Most homes in the settlements under the regional council are connected to a sewage collection system, but instead of being linked to a regional pipeline, the sewage is discharged into open areas outside the settlements.
Waste is also released from industrial zones into the environment, subsequently contaminating important waterways beyond the West Bank.
According to the lawsuit, filed along with the Zalul Environmental Association, an Israeli NGO dedicated to protecting Israel’s seas and rivers, more than a million cubic meters of raw sewage, equivalent to 400 Olympic swimming pools, flow annually from settlements in the council’s territory into surrounding areas, along with hundreds of thousands of additional cubic meters of low-quality treated wastewater.
According to the lawsuit, filed along with the Zalul Environmental Association, an Israeli NGO dedicated to protecting Israel’s seas and rivers, more than a million cubic meters of raw sewage, equivalent to 400 Olympic swimming pools, flow annually from settlements in the council’s territory into surrounding areas, along with hundreds of thousands of additional cubic meters of low-quality treated wastewater.
These flows pollute the local streams and the important groundwater reservoir in the area, the Western Mountain Aquifer. In addition, they cause foul odors and attract mosquitoes.
This is the first time a lawsuit has been filed against a regional council in the West Bank to address pollution originating from faulty infrastructure in the settlements. The plaintiffs pointed to the worsening pollution crisis due to “the constant growth in the council’s population and the construction boom.”
Meanwhile, within the Green Line, the construction of new neighborhoods in recent years has been delayed due to incomplete sewage collection and treatment infrastructure. The lawsuit was filed by attorneys Dr. Hagai Kalai and Itamar Avneri of the Kalai, Rosen & Co. Law Office.
On Thursday, Energy Minister Eli Cohen and Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan announced that they will spend 136 million shekels (41.7 million dollars) in the coming months to connect the settlements to “Shafdan”, the Tel Aviv metropolitan region’s waste treatment facility.
The regional council stated that it “initiated efforts several years ago to connect to the ‘Shafdan’ sewage system, and even committed millions of shekels for this purpose. Unfortunately, delays by government ministries postponed implementation by several years.”
Another focal point of sewage pollution is the settlement of Giv’at Ze’ev, north of Jerusalem, home to more than 20,000 residents. For months, sewage from the settlement has been flowing into a nearby stream, and residents have reported strong, unpleasant odors.
Residents have approached various authorities on the matter, including the local council and the Environmental Protection Ministry, but to no avail.
The Giv’at Ze’ev Regional Council admitted that the sewage system has been neglected but said in a statement that a plan was prepared to “address all malfunctions, including replacing the pumping stations and building a new sewage management system.”
The council said that “most malfunctions have been addressed” and that the odors residents complained about are “hardly noticeable since the sewage flow has stopped.”