Khalifa orders emergency assistance for Palestinian flood victims

03:43AM Thu 10 Jan, 2013

Emergency humanitarian assistance for Palestinians whose houses and properties were destroyed by floods in the last few days was ordered by Shaikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region and President of the Red Crescent Authority (RCA). The initiative came upon directives by the President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and is followed-up on by General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. The directives of the President followed reports by the Red Crescent Authority’s office in Palestine on severe damage in Jerusalem and other Palestinian cities, villages and camps. The reports say trees in the Al-Aqsa Mosque Plaza were torn from the ground and Palestinians’ farms and houses were swept by the flash floods. RCA’s office in Palestine will procure the humanitarian assistance from the local market and will deliver it to those afflicted by the torrents. Reports by the RCA’s office say the Palestinian territories have been hit by three days of downpours and high winds which swept thousands of trees and houses as well as frost following snowfalls in Ramallah and Hebron, in particular. Two girls were swept away by the floods in Anabta Town, near Tulkarem. Their bodies were moved to the hospital. Also, a young man is still missing. The torrents left severe damage to Palestinian farms and houses in Jenin, in the northern West Bank, and the Jordan Valley. Khaleejtimes