Palestine

Gaza civil defense: We need fuel and equipment to face impacts of rainstorm

images_News_2013_12_14_Zahhar-0_300_0Brigadier Yousuf Al-Zahhar, head of the civil defense administration, said that the acute fuel shortage as a result of the blockade on Gaza and the equipment malfunctions hampered the work of rescue teams during the last three days.

“Now, we suffer from the breakdown of the civil defense vehicles while there are no spare parts and we do not have enough fuel to use the pumps to drain rainwater from all the affected areas,” Brigadier Zahhar told the Palestinian information center (PIC).

“We have tried to deal with the first low pressure rainstorm through pumping and draining rainwater, but there are still houses in need of help and rendered underwater,” he added.

He affirmed that “the impacts of the first low pressure rainstorm, which hit the Gaza Strip last Wednesday, started to disappear, but Gaza is anticipating the most ferocious polar air depression, which may cause a disaster because of the ongoing blockade.”

“What has escalated the problem was that the Israeli occupation criminally and without prior warning opened the dams in Salqa Valley and the southern area of Deir Al-Balah, which led to the evacuation of many residents,” the civil defense official added.

He appealed to the international community and humanitarian groups to extend a helping hand urgently to the Gaza population.

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