Sunday, February 22, 2015

From Ma'an:
Hundreds of Palestinians were evacuated from their homes Sunday morning after Israeli authorities opened a number of dams near the border, flooding the Gaza Valley in the wake of a recent severe winter storm.

The Gaza Ministry of Interior said in a statement that civil defense services and teams from the Ministry of Public Works had evacuated more than 80 families from both sides of the Gaza Valley (Wadi Gaza) after their homes flooded as water levels reached more than three meters.

Gaza has experienced flooding in recent days amid a major storm that saw temperatures drop and frigid rain pour down.

The storm displaced dozens and caused hardship for tens of thousands, including many of the approximately 110,000 Palestinians left homeless by Israel's assault over summer.

The Gaza Valley (Wadi Gaza) is a wetland located in the central Gaza Strip between al-Nuseirat refugee camp and al-Moghraqa. It is called HaBesor in Hebrew, and it flows from two streams -- one whose source runs from near Beersheba, and the other from near Hebron.

Israeli dams on the river to collect rainwater have dried up the wetlands inside Gaza, and destroyed the only source of surface water in the area.

Locals have continued to use it to dispose of their waste for lack of other ways to do so, however, creating an environmental hazard.

This is not the first time Israeli authorities have opened the Gaza Valley dams.

In Dec. 2013, Israeli authorities also opened the dams amid heavy flooding in the Gaza Strip. The resulting floods damaged dozens of homes and forces many families in the area from their homes.

In 2010, the dams were opened as well, forcing 100 families from their homes. At the time civil defense services said that they had managed to save seven people who had been at risk of drowning.
So my January prediction that Gazans would blame Israel for flooding was a month early.

In previous years I searched for these dams that the Jews keep opening. I finally found the "dam" - a reservoir in Nahal Oz whose walls failed once in 2001. (There are couple of similar reservoirs around Gaza, others throughout the Negev, and many tiny "limans" to create mini-oases.)

Here is a satellite image of this reservoir, so you can compare it with the size of Gaza itself and determine on your own whether it can create floods three meters high through central Gaza by someone opening its floodgates:



UPDATE: The official PA "news" agency Wafa goes beyond this, saying Israel is pumping water into Gaza!

The Israeli authorities last night pumped large amounts of rainwater into the Gaza Strip, causing tens of neighboring homes to sink, according to witnesses and media sources.

Civil Defense said about 50 homes sank in the floods, while a number of local residents in eastern Gaza areas were reported injured. There were also reports of deaths of livestock and poultry.

“The [Israeli] army opened the floodgates of a canal leading to central Gaza, which resulted in the removal of sand mounds along the border with Israel,” Gaza's Civil Defense Directorate said in a statement.
(h/t Bob K)

UPDATE 2: AFP has shown how little journalistic integrity it has by picking up the Ma'an story without doing any fact checking. Meaning that they are parroting Hamas spokesmen.

Related Posts:

  • The "flood libel" returns for this year's rainy season in GazaIt's been raining heavily in the Levant, causing some localized flooding throughout the region.And, like every year, Gaza officials are blaming their own flooding on Israel opening up non-existent dams.The Nusseirat Municipal… Read More
  • PA doubles down on flood libelThe PA and Hamas might disagree on everything, and insult each other regularly, but if a Hamas agency declares that Israel is opening up dams without evidence, then by Allah the PA is going to believe them! The Palestinian … Read More
  • AFP publishes a detailed retraction of #FloodLibel (UPDATE: Video)Even though it is days too late, it is the best demolition of the "flood libel" that the mainstream media has published yet: Tzeelim (Israel) (AFP) - Once again this winter, following days of very heavy rainfall across the … Read More
  • I found the "dam!"The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights also blames Israel for supposedly opening up a dam in order to flood poor Gazans during torrential rains last week:For the second time in the past ten years, at approximately 6pm on Monday… Read More
  • Hamas accuses Israel of flooding Gaza - during winter stormThe Al Qassam Brigades of Hamas tweeted this on Thursday: Alas, over a day later I cannot find the news story that documents this amazing event of Israel opening up a dam in the Negev to flood Gaza. However, Gazans did ac… Read More

AddToAny

EoZTV Podcast

Podcast URL

Subscribe in podnovaSubscribe with FeedlyAdd to netvibes
addtomyyahoo4Subscribe with SubToMe

search eoz

comments

Speaking

translate

E-Book

For $18 donation








Sample Text

EoZ's Most Popular Posts in recent years

Search2

Hasbys!

Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

Donate!

Donate to fight for Israel!

Monthly subscription:
Payment options


One time donation:

Follow EoZ on Twitter!

Interesting Blogs

Blog Archive