The wall of a sewage water basin located on a hill in north-east of the Bedouin Village in north Gaza collapsed today creating a flood.
The disaster resulted in the death of four - two women and two children - and caused massive damage to many houses.
Rescue operations and searches for survivors are ongoing.
According to Al Mezan's field information, the level of sewage water in the basin has exceeded its capacity and destroyed one of the sand walls causing a flood at app.
10am today, 27 March 2007.
Water attacked the houses in the village, which are built on land lower than that of the basin.
As a result, four have been killed and 18 injured, among whom were 10 women and three children.
The identity of three of the dead have not yet been identified.
In addition, dozens of homes were flooded and damaged and some collapsed completely.
The flood took cars, animals, birds and damaged agricultural land in its way.
The panicked inhabitants moved to the sandy hills north of the village fearing that other basins or the effluent lake in the south of the village would collapse.
The entire population of the village, about 5,000, have at least temporarily, now lost their safe residence.
Based on Al Mezan field investigation, the water, which mixed with sand, overflowed into houses to levels ranging between two and three meters.
The inhabitants immediately experienced difficulties after the flooding and started searching for relatives and friends.
The furious crowd attacked the new Minister of Interior, Hani Al Qawasmi, when he arrived at the scene.
The situation is made worse by the fact that much of the flooded water ran into the other basins and the lake south of the village.
Those contain over 50 million cubic meters of raw sewage water and had reached their full capacity months before this incident.
There is credible fear that one or more of these basins will collapse owing to the added pressure.
The village and adjacent areas of Manshiyeh and Fadous, both located in north Beit Lahia town, remain at serious risk because of their even lower levels.
Al Mezan Center had frequently warned various stakeholders about the possibility of such a disaster.
The Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) and a coalition of north Gaza's municipalities built this basin in late 2006 and said it was a temporary solution that would serve until March 2007.
There was a crucial need for the basin as the effluent lake and the other basins had reached full capacity.
However, the Center warned against the choice of the location on a hill over the village.
Since 2000, Al Mezan, along with the Palestinian, UN and international bodies, has been following the environmental and human rights risks that the North Gaza Sewage Treatment Plant poses on the population.
Many obstacles undermining the solving of the problem had been overcome; however, the construction of a new treatment plant east of Jabalia to replace this old, primitive facility, built by Israel in 1977, was delayed many times.
The delays were the result of the prohibition by Israel of such works in the new site, the lack of funds, and the frequent closures of border crossings, preventing the entry of materials and equipment necessary for the construction.
Al Mezan Center expresses its deep sorrow for the loss of life and property in the Bedouin Village, one of the poorest and most marginalized areas in the Gaza Strip.
The Center calls the Palestinian government and the international community to: Bear full responsibility for the incident, offer emergency aid to the devastated population and provide temporary housing for the victims without delay until their homes are rehabilitated; Finish the construction of the new treatment plant in east Jabalia as soon as possible and remove the current plant and the risks it creates for the population from the area; Investigate the incident and reveal any negligence and/or misdoing that caused the collapse of the basin; Deal with special care with the redress and restitution claims by the victims in accordance with the law, especially given their vulnerability; Remove any obstacles, whether political or financial, undermining the transfer of the treatment plant to east Jabalia, far from populated centers.
For further information about the history of this problem, please visit Al Mezan's website at the following links: On the Brink of Disaster: The Bait Lahia Treatment Plant and Human Rights Workshop on the problem (Arabic only) at Press releases (Arabic) at http://www.
mezan.
org/site_ar/press_room/press_detail.
php?id=339 http://www.
mezan.
org/site_ar/press_room/press_detail.
php?id=303
END