Libya flood damage revealed as 10,000 remain missing
Almost 900 buildings in Libya’s coastal city of Derna were completely destroyed in last week’s catastrophic flooding, officials have revealed.
A tally by the country’s government has found at least 891 structures had been totally demolished, while a further 211 buildings were partially damaged and almost 400 others were submerged in mud.
It means approximately a quarter of all buildings in the city were damaged in the flooding.
In Derna alone, at least 11,300 people died and a further 10,000 are missing, feared dead, according to latest estimates a week on from the disaster.
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Rescuers search for bodies in flood water
Another 170 people were killed elsewhere in the country, and more than 40,000 people have been displaced, a UN report said.
It comes as rescue crews and health officials struggle to deal with the aftermath of the deluge.
Teams are still digging through mud and buildings looking for bodies and possible survivors – although hopes are fading.
Survivors are facing a dilemma over whether to stay in Derna despite a lack of fresh water.
Haider al-Saeih, head of Libya’s centre for combating diseases, said at least 150 people had suffered from diarrhoea after drinking contaminated water. He urged residents to only drink bottled water, which is being shipped in as part of relief efforts.
Authorities also began fumigating areas of the city on Saturday amid fears over the spread of disease.
Vehicles were seen driving through its streets releasing smoke through funnels attached to the rear.
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Libya governance situation ‘incredibly difficult’
Attempts to leave the area have been made more difficult because landmines from recent conflicts in the country were displaced by the flood waters.
Libya’s general prosecutor, al-Sediq al-Sour, announced an official investigation into the collapse of two dams above the city last Sunday, which has been identified as a major factor in the extent of the devastation in the city.
Water from the reservoirs washed away many residential buildings in Derna and swept bodies out to sea.
Prosecutors will now investigate the collapse of the dams, which were built in the 1970s, as well as the allocation of maintenance funds.
Volunteers carry a body discovered under the rubble of a building in Derna on Sunday
The UK’s Foreign Secretary James Cleverly warned that the civil war in Libya had “broken the infrastructure” the UK would normally use to provide aid.
He said challenges in delivering help had been highlighted by Sky’s Alex Crawford, who has been reporting on the situation from Derna.
Speaking to Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Mr Cleverly said the UK had provided £1m worth of support, which included sending an emergency medical team.
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Mr Cleverly added: “But the governance situation in Libya makes it incredibly difficult. Essentially it is a divided country and, as Alex was saying, in other places the international effort can move more quickly.
“The civil war has, in many ways, broken the infrastructure that you would normally wish to deploy in a terrible, terrible situation like this.”
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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IDF reservists call for end to war in Gaza
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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