IDF coordinator of Gov’t Activities in Territories authorizes transfer of water pumps to Hamas due to heavy flooding in Gaza.
Israel sets up Joint Command Center for emergency response, with Palestinian security in West Bank.
Yoav Zitun
Israel set up a joint command center with Palestinian security in the West Bank to handle storm-related traffic and electricity problems.
Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories verified a Mekorot transfer of water pumps to the Gaza Strip due to heavy flooding across the strip.
The IDF said on Friday it had opened a crossing with Gaza in response to a UN appeal to let in aid supplies.
Pumps were transferred through the Kerem Shalom crossing following UN request.
Flurries of snow surprised residents in the Gaza Strip, but heavy rain also hit the Palestinian territory, making many roads impassable. Emergency workers used fishing boats to evacuate 700 people from their homes and provide food, blankets and torches to hundreds of others caught in high water.
Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of the Hamas administration, called for fuel to be allowed into the coastal enclave.
“Gaza survived two wars (against Israel) and it will walk out of this,” he said while touring affected areas overnight.
Fuel shortages have plagued Gaza’s sole power plant in recent weeks, causing 12-hour blackouts and disrupting hospitals, sewage treatment facilities and businesses.
UN relief teams offered emergency services to the worst-hit communities in the West Bank and Gaza.
In Gaza, which was experiencing its first snow in a decade, more than 500 people were evacuated from their homes, according to Hamas spokesman Ihab Ghussein.
Reuters contributed to this report
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