Ahead of the winter and fearing that sewage cesspools in Gaza could once again spill over and flood nearby villages, the IDF Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA) has stepped up efforts to enable the Palestinians to complete the construction of a new sewage plant in the coming months.
Under the direction of the World Bank and with the financial support of the United States, France, Belgium and Sweden, the Palestinians have been working for the past year to establish a new sewage purification plant just south of Beit Hanun in northern Gaza.
The new plant, at a cost of some $60 million, will help take the load off the current cesspools near the village of Beit Lahiya. Those cesspools overflowed last March, killing four local residents and causing severe ecological damage. Defense officials explained that the decision to expedite the construction was made despite Hama's control over Gaza.
"We are doing this to help the Palestinians and to prevent another overflow," a defense official said. "There are security risks involved, but this is an important project and it is our job to figure out how to deal with them."
Meanwhile, the power was out in Sderot yesterday due to kassam acts launched from the Gaza Strip:
Three Qassam rockets were fired Sunday afternoon from the northern Gaza Strip towards the western Negev. One of the rockets hit a house, causing damage to the building and its surroundings. IDF forces arrived at the scene shortly afterwards and removed the debris at the spot where the rocket landedOkie dokey.
A second rocket hit a power line, starting a small fire. Several people suffered from shock. The damaged power line also resulted in a temporary blackout in Sderot. "We heard three loud explosions, but the Color Red alert system didn't sound… my whole house was shaking," one of the residents told Ynet.
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