It was brought to the agenda that the Israeli government, which continues its genocide against the Palestinian people, has set its sights on water resources in Lebanon. While Dursun Yıldız, the President of the Water Policies Association, brought up the issue that Israel’s aim in occupying Lebanon is to expand its water security area by controlling the Litani River, it was revealed that the Litani Waters and the resources in the Golan Heights have been a strategic target for Israel since 1953.
PLAN COULD NOT BE IMPLEMENTED
The first plan regarding the Litani Waters, which Israel claimed to be targeting, was prepared as a report by Eric Johnston, the special representative of US President Eisenhower, in 1953. While Johnston went to the region to mediate between the Arabs and Israel and share the resources, the expected agreement was never reached. While the Israelis pressured the delegation to include the Litani River in the plans, the Arabs insisted that Israel be prevented from transporting water from the Jordan basin. According to the delegation’s plan, 52 percent of the Jordan River waters would belong to Jordan, 36 percent to Israel, 9 percent to Syria, and 3 percent to Lebanon, but since the parties did not officially approve this plan, it did not have legal value.
THEY BOMBED THE CHANNEL
At that time, the efforts to transfer the river waters out of the basin with the “National Water Carrier Project of Israel” mobilized the Arab League and the League decided on a diversion plan to prevent the flow of the river waters to Israel. Accordingly, the Hasbani Branch from the river’s sources would be diverted to the Litani River in Lebanon, and the Banyas Branch would be diverted to the Yarmouk River in Syria. On January 1, 1965, the Palestinian Fatah attacked Israel’s water facilities. The Israeli army attacked the region where the enclosure efforts in Syria were continuing in March, May and August, and in 1966 Israeli warplanes bombed the Banyas-Yarmouk Canal.
LEBANON USES IT IN AGRICULTURE
The President of the Water Policies Association and former DSI Director Dursun Yıldız, who claimed that Israel would take action for the plan to access water resources that it has been planning for years, said, “In 1967, Israel took control of the Golan Heights, the Upper Jordan River and the Banyas branch and largely monopolized the control of water. The majority of the water used by the genocidal state comes from the Golan Heights. The length of the Litani River is 170 kilometers, and the river basin covers an area of 2,290 square kilometers. While the annual flow rate varies between 700 million cubic meters and 1 billion cubic meters on average, “Lebanon is trying to meet its agricultural water needs from the Litani River” said.
IT HAS STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE
Stating that one of the main targets of Israel preparing to attack Lebanon is water resources, Yıldız also stated that southern Lebanon is rich in terms of water resources, and said: “Many rivers, including the Litani River, flow through southern Lebanon. Control of these rivers has an important strategic feature. “The Israeli National Water Carrier Canal is acting in accordance with the Lowdermilk Plan. Attacks on Lebanon will also be carried out to implement this plan.”
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