Israeli Mayors Say Netanyahu ‘Failed Us’

Sunday’s massive attack in which 350 Hezbollah missiles and rockets pounded Israeli cities, towns, settlements and military bases created much anger among the Israeli public who are now blaming the extrmist government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu being responsible for what is happening.

Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav said, Sunday, the city is suffering from a very difficult economic situation after shops were closed due to Hezbollah missiles.

Yahav added to the Hebrew channel, i24 News, he has gone to the Knesset  to explain to its members of the exceedingly difficult situation in the city.

He explained “the Finance Committee in the Knesset and the Israeli state do not understand or know the terrible and dangerous events taking place in Haifa, as the city has been continually targeted on a daily basis, the economy is collapsing and the city is economically stagnant after the shops shutdown.”

Hezbollah is intensifying its targeting of the Israeli city, which includes important military and economic facilities, in addition to targeting the Krayot settlements near Haifa Bay, which resulted in much material losses, fires and human injuries.

Also, In central Israel, Petah Tikva Mayor Rami Greenberg said psychologists were deployed in the city after a rocket was fired from Lebanon. Hebrew radio station FM 103 quoting Greenberg as saying: “Social workers are deployed at the site of the Lebanese missile’s fall.”

Greenberg explained that whilst “the injuries are moderate and light, these specialists are providing the necessary answers to ease the burden on the settlers, as a result of the successive Lebanese missiles falling on their heads.”

On Sunday, the escalation was at its highest with over 500 sirens going off all over the north and center Israel where Tel Aviv itself was hit 17 times with missiles.

Greenberg’s statements come as Channel 12 reported two Israelis were injured, one of them moderately, as a result of a missile fired from Lebanon falling on a building in the settlement of Petah Tikva, whilst air traffic at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, central Israel, was halted.

The official Israeli Broadcaster, Kan,  published a video clip showing the extensive destruction of a building in Petah Tikva, after it was directly hit by a missile, which led to a fire.

Security Failure

In the same context, Ronen Marley, the mayor of Nahariya in northern Israel, said, Sunday, Tel Aviv had failed to provide security for its citizens, and had wasted huge sums of money from its budget to no avail.

The same radio station quoted Marley as saying “the state of Israel has failed to provide security for its residents, as it previously wasted huge budgets to evacuate residents of the south (adjacent to the Gaza Strip).” He described Israel’s decision to evacuate the population as “stupid,” explaining that government had recorded a “disastrous failure” in this regard.

Over four million people spend their time down the underground shelters, double the number that took to hiding on a regular basis in the last months.

CrossFireArabia

CrossFireArabia

Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

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“Third states have an obligation, per the ICJ, to act to end Israel’s unlawful occupation,” Albanese wrote on the US social media platform X, referring to a July 2024 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice that deemed Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory unlawful and said states must not assist in maintaining it.

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40 Million Tons of Rubble: Gaza Ministry Faces Challenges in Removing it

Gaza’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing confirmed that Israel’s ongoing targeting of tents and shelters of displaced people in the enclave is a systematic policy of destroying the basic necessities of life. It noted the amount of rubble that has piled up in the various regions of the Strip has exceeded 40 million tons.

Ministry spokesman Najla Hammad told the Sanad News Agency, Monday, the ministry is facing unprecedented challenges in removing the rubble because of the severe shortage of heavy machinery due to the Israeli-imposed blockade and the closure of crossings.

Hammad pointed out that the recent Israeli aggression has displaced more than 80 families, leaving them homeless and exposed, noting the ministry received widespread appeals to replace the tents that have been damaged and/or completely destroyed.

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She added what is making things worse is that the Israeli occupation is preventing the entry of tents, tarpaulins, and shelter supplies and the reduction of usable land in the Gaza Strip to less than 30%.

Hammad explained that crews are continuing to work on opening main roads and providing alternative spaces for service facilities and educational centers but tough going. However, she announced the completion of the removal of the rubble at the site of the Hijazi Clinic in northern Gaza, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and its handover to the Ministry of Health for reconstruction.

She indicated that the demolition and clearing of rubble is currently limited to only 4 out of the 10 sites previously identified, due to security restrictions and a lack of heavy equipment. The teams are operating with only one excavator and a very limited number of trucks.

Hammad noted the use of local alternatives and solutions, such as recycling crushed rubble to level roads and areas threatened by flooding, and melting plastic and aluminum to recycle supplies for health units in the camps is also moving.

UN reports confirm that the scale of destruction and rubble in the Gaza Strip surpasses that of major wars and conflicts in modern history. International organizations warn that preventing the entry of machinery, engineering equipment, and shelter materials exacerbates the humanitarian, environmental, and health catastrophe, hindering the provision of even the most basic services to more than two million displaced people lacking safe shelter.

The Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Gaza previously warned in August of the severe deterioration in the housing sector due to the widespread presence of tons of rubble. It emphasized that the aid and tents permitted entry by the Israeli occupation amount to no more than 5% of the actual needs of the displaced, given the strict restrictions at the crossings and the repeated forced displacement.

Recently, the Ministry of Public Works and Housing launched an emergency program to repair and renovate partially damaged homes in the Gaza Strip, a step aimed at persuading and facilitating the return of displaced families to their homes and original areas.

Last June, Hammad, announced a comprehensive plan for managing, storing, and crushing rubble for reuse, as part of the ongoing efforts to address the issue of debris resulting from the conflict.

Hammad said that the Ministry is presently working with the UNDP and have to-date  constructed more than 15 shelters that have accommodated over 1,700 displaced families in the Gaza Strip, including five centers in the south that alone have housed approximately 700 families.

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