Well, things in Gaza have sunk, or stunk, to a new low. Today the walls of a cesspool collapsed, killing six in a refugee camp in a flood of raw sewage. It was not so long ago, before the second intifada that the Palestinian Territories were showing good economic gains. Trade was booming and growth was in excess of 10% per year. Arafats’ decision to go to war again spelled doom for the Palestinian economy, surging unemployment in younger people to over 50%. Businesses have collapsed, government services have been unpaid, every category of social welfare has plummeted. When will the Palestinian people hold their officials accountable? When will they say no more fighting, give us peace? Arafat runs off with Billions, donor countries are so disgusted with the corruption and perpetual violence that they cut off funds, how can things get much worse?
Hamas has only made things worse with their belligerence. Of course Hamas tries to blame even sewage tsunamis on the Israelis. The leadership of the Palestinians is the real sewage tsunami.
Palestinian medical officials said at least six people were killed when the wall of a large cesspool collapsed on Tuesday, flooding the northern Gaza village of Umm Naser with mud and raw sewage.
The officials said dozens were injured and missing, with some saying up to 10 people were killed. The rest of the village’s 3,000 residents fled or were evacuated by rescue crews.
A 70-year-old woman, two toddlers and a teenage girl died in the sudden flood, and 25 people were injured, said Dr. Muawiya Hassanin of the Palestinian Health Ministry. At least 25 houses were completely submerged.
Some 250 houses were damaged by the sewage, some of which were completely destroyed. Up to 4,000 people are being affected by the flooding, officials said.
Rescue crews and Hamas gunmen rushed to the area to search for people feared buried under the slide of sewage and mud.
An official in Gaza City said the raw sewage was presenting a particular danger to health and that the situation was not yet under control.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society and the International Red Cross are handing out some 250 tents to the displaced.
Officials say all local and international institutions are coordinating their relief efforts and are working at a high emergency status.
The cause of the collapse was not immediately clear.
A local Palestinian official blamed the disaster on shoddy infrastructure and UN officials said they had been warning of a catastrophe for more than two years.
A 2004 United Nations report warned that the sewage facility was at its maximum capacity and flooding was inevitable unless a new waste treatment plant was constructed. It said that even without overflowing, the effluent lake posed a serious health hazard, providing a breeding ground for mosquitoes and waterborne diseases.
