The snowstorms and torrential
rain that battered the Mideast in mid-December threatened to make this
Christmas season an especially difficult one for Christians in Gaza.
Matthew McGarry, Catholic Relief Services' country representative, described the situation as "quite bad."
"There is extensive damage to infrastructure, and we haven't been able to get our staff in until today," McGarry stated on Dec. 17. "We are targeting the most vulnerable families."
Many schools remained closed because of structural damage, he added.
The bad weather has made a bad situation worse, he said, noting, "They
have not yet been able to resume what passes for normal life in Gaza."
While the northern part of the Gaza Strip saw floods that left thousands
of families homeless, 10,000 people evacuated from their homes, and
essential hospital personnel traveling to work by boat, most of the Gaza
Strip's tiny Christian community and its institutions are located in
Gaza City itself and were saved from the worst of the storm, said Sami
El-Yousef, regional director for Israel and the Palestinian territories
for the Catholic Near East Welfare Association.
He said Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal had to cancel his Dec. 15 visit to
celebrate Mass at Holy Family Parish, which traditionally opens the
Christmas season in Gaza.
El-Yousef also had to cancel a planned visit to Gaza in which he was to
serve as presenter for a three-way Christmas telecast Dec. 14 that
included Holy Family Parish, a suburban Washington parish and one in
Bethlehem, West Bank.
In addition, Egypt's closure of smuggling tunnels that had served as a
lifeline for Gazans increased prices of everyday commodities, and the
cash-strapped Holy Family Parish found itself without any immediate
funds to organize its annual Christmas party for the children, said
El-Yousef. He said his organization was trying to provide funds with a
bank transfer, but the money might not arrive in time to arrange for the
modest celebration.
"We are still trying to pull off the Christmas party," he said.
Israel has blockaded the Gaza Strip since the Islamist group Hamas took power in 2007.
After the storms, on Dec. 14, Israel allowed shipment of fuel for Gaza's
only power plant, which had been without fuel for weeks, complicating
rescue operations.
Palestinians charged Israeli water authorities with deliberately opening
overflowing dams outside the Gaza Strip to prevent floodwaters from
overflowing on the Israeli side. However, an Israeli municipal official
responsible for drainage in the area told the daily Israeli newspaper
Ha'aretz that there was only one three-foot dam in the area that cannot
be opened or closed. He said that, because of the storm, the water level
was so high that the dam could not stop the water from reaching Gaza.
In some places the floodwaters combined with the rain brought water levels to 13 feet.
Ha'aretz also reported that the Israeli water utility company had
responded to a request by the Palestinian Authority via the United
Nations to send four water pumps to Gaza to aid in controlling the
flooding.