PA accuses Israel of flooding Gaza by opening non-existent dams

Headline: "This is the third time: The occupation is flooding the civilian lands in eastern Gaza"

"The occupation forces yesterday [Jan. 18, 2020] opened the dams gathering rain water in the direction of the civilian lands in eastern Gaza City, which caused the flooding of hundreds of dunams [1 dunam = 1,000 sq. meters] in agricultural areas (this is a frequently repeated libel; see note below –Ed.).

Eye witnesses said that the occupation deliberately opened – for the third time within a week – rain water dams and gutters, which caused the flooding of hundreds of dunams of wheat, barley, and legume crops, and other crops…

It should be noted that the occupation authorities opened the dams twice at the beginning and middle of last week, and that their planes sprayed the agricultural crops with harmful substances, which led to their destruction."

Israel experienced torrential rains in December 2019 and January 2020, which led to flooding in many areas.

The claim that Israel intentionally floods lands in Gaza is a frequently repeated libel. Israel has no dams in southern Israel that can be opened. On Feb. 25, 2015, Al-Jazeera even printed a retraction of one such claim: "Editor's note: An earlier version of this page hosted an article which stated that Israel had, without warning, opened a number of dams, which had resulted in a part of Gaza being flooded. This was false. In southern Israel, there are no dams of the type which can be opened. We apologise for this error."