A number of participants ,during a specialized symposium held in the Gaza Strip, put full responsibility on Israeli occupation for the destruction of the Palestinian environment and the infrastructure by opening the dams of Wadi Gaza ( Valley of Gaza), which caused floods and heavy financial losses, calling for prosecuting the occupation authorities for this new crime and for compensating the affected people.

The participants stressed on the necessity of prosecuting the occupation for the robbery of Wadi Gaza waters during the past forty years, and to compensate the Palestinians for such an evil act, pointing out that the Israeli occupation is fully responsible for the destruction of the aquifer in the Gaza Strip, which could have been avoided through the good use of Wadi Gaza waters over the past years.

This came during a specialized scientific symposium entitled "Crime of dumping Wadi Gaza by opening the dams," which was organized by the Water Authority under the auspices of the Minister of Agriculture, in the caretaker government of Gaza, Mohammed Ramadan Al-Agha, with the presence of engineers from the ministry and representatives of the Environmental Quality Authority.

In his speech, the Minister Al-agha, reaffirmed that the crime of opening the dams of Wadi Gaza by the occupation is a serious crime by all standards and descriptions, noting that it comes within the framework of the bigger Israeli crime, which is the theft of the Palestinian waters by the occupation through water trapping that prevent the water feeding the aquifer in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.

Al- Agha explained that the occupation had deliberately opened the gates of dams that had been established in the course of Wadi Gaza, outside the borders of the Gaza Strip, suddenly and without any prior warning to add a new crime to its crimes against the Palestinian people.
Many Palestinian houses were under water in Central Gaza after Israel opened a closed dams on 19th of last January ,without prior notice after heavy rainfall on the area. Seventy citizens were rescued by Civil defense staffs. Medical sources said that 9 citizens were injured and transferred to Gaza hospitals. They said that rescue teams rushed to the area and evacuated all the residents who live in distance of 500-600m in Al-Mughraqa area in central Gaza Strip.

The Minister added that this has led also to the destruction of their own property, in addition to the dumping of their agricultural lands and the destruction of farms, livestock and the destruction of many water wells, as well as destruction of infrastructure on the water and sanitation in the region.

For his part, Mazen Al Banna, Director General of Water Sources, presented a detailed explanation of the nature of the Wadi Gaza and water phases of transition in it, pointing out to the hydrological assessment of the crime of opening the dams of Wadi Gaza, outside the limits of the sector, saying: "The amount of water that flowed through the floods was estimated at 10-15 million cubic meters noting that this water came from rain water that fell in the Negev desert, and that the amount of water which leaked into the underground reservoir was estimated at 3-5 million cubic meters. "
On the other hand, Nizar Wahidi, Director of Policy and Planning in the Ministry of Agriculture, said that the loss of the agricultural sector – directly and indirectly - have exceeded one million dollars due to flooding of the Wadi Gaza, adding that the Ministry had mobilized its technical and administrative staff , to limit the damage which included the destruction of hundreds of dunums of agricultural land , in addition to the deaths of hundreds of animals from cows, livestock, and camels, as well as the destruction of more than 1000 bee-hive, rather than damage caused in the soil and groundwater due to the flow of chemical residues and displacement across the valley to the sea, which would harm the marine life in Gaza sea.

Ab.