On Sunday night, Israel water company, Mekorot—with which the national Dutch water company just cut off relations for its “violations of international law”—sent special pumps to Gaza in order to deal with the devastating flooding, the IDF Spokesperson tweeted.
According to Ma’an, Israel has been pumping industrial diesel donated by Qatar into the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning. The move is part of a temporary agreement to ease the blockade following days of record flooding that has devastated the besieged coastal enclave.
Raed Fattouh, president of a committee that coordinates the entry of goods into the Gaza Strip, told Ma’an that 450,000 liters of diesel donated by Qatar was being shipped to the coastal enclave via the Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday.
On Friday, Qatari authorities announced the donation of $10 million to Hamas in Gaza in the wake of the humanitarian crisis caused by severe weather. The donation was given to the Palestinian Authority, to purchase diesel fuel from Israel, and on Sunday the first shipment of diesel fuel began arriving at Gaza’s power plant.
Fattouh added that as a result of an agreement, the Kerem Shalom crossing will temporarily operate for 12 hours a day in order to allow increased quantities of gasoline, domestic-use diesel, and gas to enter the Gaza Strip.
The extended hours began on Sunday and will continue for the next week.
Members of the Palestinian civil defense evacuated people from their houses that were flooded with icy rain water in Gaza City. In some neighborhoods, the rain mixed with raw sewage which had been flooding streets for several weeks now.
More than 30 people have been injured in car crashes in Gaza, and as a result of poorly built homes collapsing in the rain.