Floods Israel

Flash floods after sudden rainstorms killed at least 11 people in desert areas of southern Israel and near Jewish settlements in the West Bank, police and rescue officials said Saturday. Witnesses said a hailstorm in the Negev Desert city of Beersheba damaged homes and cars. In the West Bank settlement of Gush Etzion, police said, a van skidded on slick pavement and crashed into an oncoming truck. The van driver and his five passengers were all killed.

A chapel at the foot of Jerusalem's Mount of Olives was flooded Monday by a surge of water that filled the underground structure, damaging precious Christian icons and forcing monks and nuns to flee. Israeli firemen rescued five monks and a nun from 50-foot-deep rain and sewage runoff that filled the chapel, which according to Christian tradition is the burial place of the Virgin Mary.

A chapel at the foot of Jerusalem's Mount of Olives was flooded Monday by a surge of water that filled the underground structure, damaging precious Christian icons and forcing monks and nuns to flee. Israeli firemen rescued five monks and a nun from 50-foot-deep rain and sewage runoff that filled the chapel, which according to Christian tradition is the burial place of the Virgin Mary.

Rain flooded northern Israel on Thursday after months of drought, destroying property and forcing thousands of residents to evacuate. Israel Television said that 8 inches of rain fell on the Carmel region. In the southern town of Ashkelon, 59 workers from South Korea and Romania were stranded on a pier after huge waves struck their houseboat, Israel's Army Radio said. No one was injured, but rescue efforts were suspended at nightfall, and the workers were to stay on the pier until dawn today.

Rain flooded northern Israel on Thursday after months of drought, destroying property and forcing thousands of residents to evacuate. Israel Television said that 8 inches of rain fell on the Carmel region. In the southern town of Ashkelon, 59 workers from South Korea and Romania were stranded on a pier after huge waves struck their houseboat, Israel's Army Radio said. No one was injured, but rescue efforts were suspended at nightfall, and the workers were to stay on the pier until dawn today.

Snowstorms swept the eastern Mediterranean again Sunday, blanketing Jerusalem and other cities in the region's harshest winter in more than 40 years. At least 15 people died in floods and avalanches. Israel Radio said the Sea of Galilee, a major source of drinking and irrigation water for the Jewish state, was rising a half-inch an hour as the season's third snowstorm hit.

Flash floods after sudden rainstorms killed at least 11 people in desert areas of southern Israel and near Jewish settlements in the West Bank, police and rescue officials said Saturday. Witnesses said a hailstorm in the Negev Desert city of Beersheba damaged homes and cars. In the West Bank settlement of Gush Etzion, police said, a van skidded on slick pavement and crashed into an oncoming truck. The van driver and his five passengers were all killed.

Snowstorms swept the eastern Mediterranean again Sunday, blanketing Jerusalem and other cities in the region's harshest winter in more than 40 years. At least 15 people died in floods and avalanches. Israel Radio said the Sea of Galilee, a major source of drinking and irrigation water for the Jewish state, was rising a half-inch an hour as the season's third snowstorm hit.