Floods in Gaza force dozens of families to evacuate

Wednesday October 29, 2008 00:24 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Heavy rain that fell on Gaza on Tuesday forced at least 80 Palestinian families to evacuate their homes especially after the sewage system collapsed causing damage to homes and businesses.

Eyewitnesses reported that the level of water in some of the flooded homes reached at least 1.5 feet.

Meanwhile, head of the Civil Defense in Gaza warned that the flood could drag the impoverished and besieged area into a further humanitarian crisis.

He added that that infrastructure in Gaza is not equipped to handle such cases of downpours.

So far there was no reports of casualties but officials fear that casualties would occur if the rain continues.

The Palestinian Civil Defense teams reported that at least 115 homes were damaged by the floods.

The most affected areas are Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, Sheikh Radwan and Al Zeitoun neighborhoods in Gaza, in addition to Al Shaty' and Jabalia refugee camps.

Last year, five Palestinians were killed after the rain caused a collapse to a sewage pit in Gaza.

Fayyad: PA will do 'everything possible' to aid flood victims

Date: 29 / 10 / 2008  Time:  19:29 Bethlehem – Ma’an –

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Wednesday that the Palestinian Authority (PA) would provide “everything possible” to aid citizens affected by the flooding in Gaza.

Fayyad said that he had “observed that the floods” have caused major damage to the entire Gaza Strip, vowing to alleviate suffering by those affected. He also contacted a number of governors and others in order to activate the government’s response, he said.

“The PA is working hard to end the suffering caused by the heavy rain,” he said. “The authorities will provide everything possible to rescue these citizens.” Fayyad also called on the international community to “immediately intervene” to provide help in order to “prevent a disaster” facing the Gaza Strip.

Haniya gov't declares state of emergency after heavy rainfall

[ 29/10/2008 - 11:31 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

The Palestinian government headed by premier Ismail Haniya declared a state of emergency after the extensive damage caused by the continuing rainfall in the Gaza Strip, instructing all its concerned ministries to provide urgent assistance to the citizens.

In a statement received by the PIC, the government hailed the efforts made by the ministries of social affairs, public works, and interior as well as the civil defense crews to follow up during the last hours until now the effects of heavy rains and their success in saving many families.

In another context, the government strongly condemned Tuesday, in a statement issued following its weekly cabinet meeting, the repeated assaults committed by Israeli settlers in different West Bank cities especially in Al-Khalil and said that these aggressive practices are part of the Zionist policy to Judaize the city and the Ibrahimi Mosque.

The government called in the statement, which was received by the PIC, on the Arab and Islamic countries, the organization of Islamic conference and the Arab League to assume their responsibilities towards the Israeli threats against the Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem.

The government also deplored the PA security apparatuses for continuing its arrest campaigns and assaults against the Palestinian citizens in the West Bank. It also blistered PA assaults on students of Al-Najah university especially the Islamic bloc students to influence the results of student elections in the university.

It was also stressed in the statement that the PA practices in the West Bank indicate that there is a trend unconcerned with the national reconciliation, calling on Egypt to urgently intervene to curb this non-national trend.

The government expressed shock that Egypt refused to allow an international delegation of lawmakers to make a humanitarian visit to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.

Hamas, for its part, said in a statement, that the practices of PA security apparatuses in the West Bank are still a testimonial to their moral and national decline and their eagerness to gain the Zio-American satisfaction. 

The movement said that regardless of the terminologies use by these apparatuses, it would never change the fact that they became a new occupation reality and one of the attack lines of Israel, adding that the PA jails which hold resistance fighters from all Palestinian factions including the Aqsa Brigades bear witness to that.

The movement called on the Fatah faction and the PA to refrain from such practices which do not augur well regarding their credibility towards dialog.