Gaza Home Demolitions Stir Palestinian Frustration

Some in Gaza's Al-Shati refugee camp say the road project causes hardship to the community © MAHMUD HAMS / AFP
Some in Gaza's Al-Shati refugee camp say the road project causes hardship to the community © MAHMUD HAMS / AFP
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Gaza Home Demolitions Stir Palestinian Frustration

Some in Gaza's Al-Shati refugee camp say the road project causes hardship to the community © MAHMUD HAMS / AFP
Some in Gaza's Al-Shati refugee camp say the road project causes hardship to the community © MAHMUD HAMS / AFP

Ramadan Abu Saif looked on as bulldozers ploughed into his neighbour's Gaza City home, knowing his could be next as an infrastructure project surges forward in the impoverished Palestinian enclave.

Last month, Hamas militants who govern Gaza began demolishing 62 houses at Al-Shati refugee camp as they widen the territory's main coastal road.

Most of the affected residents accepted financial compensation totalling some $3 million in exchange for giving up their homes, Hamas government spokesperson Salameh Maarouf said.

But a handful have refused, instead facing down a move they say is destroying their community.

Every morning for around a week, families -- many of them refugees in Gaza from the 1948 conflict following Israel's creation -- watched as their houses were reduced to rubble.

Abu Saif told AFP he supported the road project but not if it meant losing both his two-storey home and his cafe next door which looks out to the sea.

The 58-year-old, whose family was displaced from Hamama -- now in southern Israel -- almost 75 years ago, said he had been offered around $225,000 for the house, a sum he said was "unfair".

"If they demolish my house, it means the death of my memories and the memories of my grandparents, father and mother," he said.

Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007 and has faced increasing pressure to improve living standards for the territory's 2.3 million residents despite a crippling Israeli blockade.

Hamas spokesman Maarouf described the road widening project as "vital" for addressing traffic jams that have long plagued the area.

"We held many meetings with the (home) owners... in the past weeks, and there was a positive response and desire from almost everyone," he said.

A community center which hosts a football field and halls for table tennis and parkour is also slated for demolition, as well as several United Nations administrative buildings.

An official at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said "we have nothing to do with the demolition".

The agency withdrew from several facilities in the area "at the request of the (Hamas) government", the UN official said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Kamal Saidam, 51, grew up playing sports in the community centre and was among those set to lose his house.

He said he was "not against" the road project but objected to it causing hardship to the community.

He watched on angrily as workers removed the last of the community centre's furniture in anticipation of its demolition.

"This club is one of the symbols of the camp," he said.

"I cannot imagine being displaced from here."



What to Know About the Flash Floods in Texas That Killed over 100 People

 Firefighters from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, transport a recovered body on the flooded Guadalupe River days after a flash flood swept through the area, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP)
Firefighters from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, transport a recovered body on the flooded Guadalupe River days after a flash flood swept through the area, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP)
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What to Know About the Flash Floods in Texas That Killed over 100 People

 Firefighters from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, transport a recovered body on the flooded Guadalupe River days after a flash flood swept through the area, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP)
Firefighters from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, transport a recovered body on the flooded Guadalupe River days after a flash flood swept through the area, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP)

Flash floods in Texas killed at least 100 people over the Fourth of July holiday weekend and left others still missing, including girls attending a summer camp. The devastation along the Guadalupe River, outside of San Antonio, has drawn a massive search effort as officials face questions over their preparedness and the speed of their initial actions.

Here's what to know about the deadly flooding, the colossal weather system that drove it in and around Kerr County, Texas, and ongoing efforts to identify victims.

Massive rain hit at just the wrong time, in a flood-prone place

The floods grew to their worst at the midpoint of a long holiday weekend when many people were asleep.

The Texas Hill Country in the central part of the state is naturally prone to flash flooding due to the dry dirt-packed areas where the soil lets rain skid along the surface of the landscape instead of soaking it up. Friday's flash floods started with a particularly bad storm that dropped most of its 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain in the dark early morning hours.

After a flood watch notice midday Thursday, the National Weather Service office issued an urgent warning around 4 a.m. that raised the potential of catastrophic damage and a severe threat to human life. By at least 5:20 a.m., some in the Kerrville City area say water levels were getting alarmingly high. The massive rain flowing down hills sent rushing water into the Guadalupe River, causing it to rise 26 feet (8 meters) in just 45 minutes.

Death toll is expected to rise and the number of missing is uncertain

In Kerr County, home to youth camps in the Texas Hill Country, searchers have found the bodies of 75 people, including 27 children, Sheriff Larry Leitha said Monday morning. Fatalities in nearby counties brought the total number of deaths to 94 as of Monday afternoon.

Ten girls and a counselor were still unaccounted for at Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the river.

For past campers, the tragedy turned happy memories into grief.

Beyond the Camp Mystic campers unaccounted for, the number of missing from other nearby campgrounds and across the region had not been released.

Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday had said that there were 41 people confirmed to be unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing.

Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said during a Monday news conference he couldn't give an estimate of the number of people still missing, only saying “it is a lot.”

Officials face scrutiny over flash flood warnings

Survivors have described the floods as a “pitch black wall of death” and said they received no emergency warnings.

Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, who lives along the Guadalupe River, said Saturday that “nobody saw this coming.” Officials have referred to it as a “100-year-flood,” meaning that the water levels were highly unlikely based on the historical record.

And records behind those statistics don’t always account for human-caused climate change. Though it’s hard to connect specific storms to a warming planet so soon after they occur, meteorologists say that a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture and allow severe storms to dump even more rain.

Additionally, officials have come under scrutiny about why residents and youth summer camps along the river were not alerted sooner than 4 a.m. or told to evacuate.

Rice said Monday that he did not immediately know if there had been any communication between law enforcement and the summer camps between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Friday. But Rice said various factors, including spotty cell service in some of the more isolated areas of Kerr County and cell towers that might have gone out of service during the weather, could have hindered communication.

Rice said officials want to finish the search and rescue and then review possible issues with cell towers, radios and emergency alerts.

Officials noted that the public can grow weary from too many flooding alerts or forecasts that turn out to be minor.

Kerr county officials said they had presented a proposal for a more robust flood warning system, similar to a tornado warning system, but that members of the public reeled at the cost.

Monumental clearing and rebuilding effort

The flash floods have erased campgrounds and torn homes from their foundations.

"It’s going to be a long time before we’re ever able to clean it up, much less rebuild it," Kelly said Saturday after surveying the destruction from a helicopter.

Other massive flooding events have driven residents and business owners to give up, including in areas struck last year by Hurricane Helene.

President Donald Trump said he would likely visit the flood zone on Friday.

AP photographers have captured the scale of the destruction, and one of Texas' largest rescue and recovery efforts.