DURA, OCCUPIED WEST BANK — As recently as Christmas, this small community near Hebron thought it had a deal with the United States to tackle one of its most pressing issues: water supply.

In December, Dura joined the municipalities of Halhul and Hebron to sign a memorandum with the U.S. Agency for International Development to fund a $46 million program shoring up their local water systems.

It was a project of tremendous local import. The three neighboring communities are among the most water-deprived in the West Bank. They rely on irregular water supplies from Israel. When water does arrive, some 30-40 percent is lost in distribution, chiefly due to leaks and theft.

It’s this 30-40 percent that the project meant to fix. But in late February, a month after President Donald Trump’s

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