Israel opens floodgates forcing hundreds of Gazans to evacuate

© Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Palestinians ride horse carts as they evacuate their animals in the village of Al-Moghraga after it was flooded by rain water, near central Gaza Strip February 22, 2015.

Over 80 houses have been flooded and hundreds of Palestinians forced to evacuate after Israel opened the gates of several dams on the border with the Gaza Strip, inundating the Gaza Valley in waters up to 3 meters high.

In the wake of a recent severe winter storm in the region, Israeli authorities opened the floodgates to discharge the accumulated water. Residents of eastern Gaza reported injuries as well as deaths of livestock and poultry, caused by the Israeli action which allegedly came without prior notification, Gaza's Civil Defense Directorate (CDD) said Sunday.

"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," the CDD announced, according to Palestinian News Agency . "Opening the levees to the canal has led to the flooding of several Palestinian homes, and we had to quickly evacuate the afflicted citizens."

No casualties were reported as a result, but more than 80 families had to flee after their homes filled with water levels sometimes reaching more than three meters, the Gaza Ministry of Interior said in a statement.

The flood forced the closure of the main road connecting al-Mughraqa district and Nusseirat refugee camp south of Gaza city, leaving hundreds of Palestinians trapped in the floods, a difficult prospect for approximately 110,000 Palestinians left homeless by Israel's assault last summer.

If Israel opens more dams, further harm could be caused, CDD spokesman Mohammed al-Midana warned, noting that the water was flowing from Israeli territory through the valley and into the Mediterranean Sea.

Local agriculture was also affected, Brigadier Gerneral Said Al-Saudi, chief of the civil defense agency in Gaza, told . "We are appealing to human rights organizations and international rights organizations to intervene to prevent further such action."

Those who had been evacuated from the affected area were placed in makeshift shelters in al-Bureij refugee camp and in al-Zahra neighborhood in the central Gaza Strip, according to the local news agency. The shelters were sponsored by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

This is not the first time Israeli authorities have opened the Gaza Valley dams. Almost every year without prior notice, Israel opens the floodgates to their dams in the direction of Gaza to discharge massive quantities of excessive water that accumulated during heavy rains or snowfall in the Naqab region.