Heavy rains fell across the country on Shabbat, raising the Kineret by five centimeters. The winter storm was accompanied by cold weather and heavy winds, leaving a blanket of snow on Mount Hermon. The rain is expected to dissipate by  Monday but the weather will remain cold with light rains returning in the north later in the week. 

Gaza suffered major flooding over the weekend.

The flooding was exacerbated by infrastructure issues. According to the UN, some 56,000 homes across Gaza were damaged in May and over 2,100 others were either completely destroyed or damaged so heavily they are uninhabitable. The conflict broke out after approximately 4,600 rockets were fired at Israeli cities from Gaza. The Hamas-run Housing Ministry, says residents need $170 million to rebuild, but so far only $13 million has been disbursed. After the conflict, the US allocated $110 million in aid to Gaza, Qatar donated another $500 million for reconstruction, Egypt pledged $500 million, and Germany and other European countries pledged approximately $80 million to water infrastructure in addition to other commitments to UNRWA. 

Rains last winter also caused widespread flooding in Gaza. Many media disseminated a lie that originated in Palestinian media claiming that Israel was to blame for the flooding by opening dam gates. The official Palestinian Al Wafa news service even said Israel “pumped large amounts of rainwater into the Gaza Strip, causing tens of neighboring homes to sink, according to witnesses and media sources.”

This slander occurs every time there is flooding in Gaza. 

It is interesting to note that while Gaza was wallowing in deep water on Shabbat, Jews were gathered in synagogues reading the portion of the Torah describing the Egyptians drowning in the Reed Sea after the waters closed on them.  

Moshe held out his arm over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state, and the Egyptians fled at its approach. But Hashem hurled the Egyptians into the sea. Exodus 14:27