HUNDREDS of Palestinians were forced to flee their homes yesterday after Israeli authorities opened three dams near the border with the Gaza Strip, flooding the central part of the besieged territory.

Firefighters and rescue workers evacuated more than 80 families from their homes in the Gaza valley as water levels topped three metres, Gaza’s Interior Ministry said.

Palestinian unity government Minister of Housing and Public Works Mufid al-Hasaynah told the Chinese Xinhua news agency that Israel had  deliberately added to the suffering of the Gazans.  

“These actions double the suffering of people who live under a tight Israeli siege,” he said.

The deliberate opening follows a major storm which also caused flooding and caused the mercury to plummet.

Many in Gaza still live in temporary shelters after the savage Israeli onslaught last summer which killed more than 2,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians.

The Irin news agency reported last week that just 5 per cent of the £200 million pledged for Gaza after the attack has been received.