Origins of the Flooding Allegation
Claims alleging that Israeli authorities open dams to flood agricultural land across the border in the Gaza Strip represent a recurring propaganda narrative. According to documentation compiled by the Jewish Virtual Library , this specific narrative initially surfaced in 2015 before undergoing a prominent revival in 2020.
Hamas Ministry Claims in Gaza
The revival of the narrative in January 2020 was spearheaded by official organs operating within the Gaza Strip. As recorded by the Jewish Virtual Library, Gaza's Ministry of Agriculture—an administrative body under the control of Hamas—issued formal statements alleging that Israeli occupation personnel had opened water barriers and directed wastewater toward agricultural plots situated on the eastern perimeter of the coastal enclave.
Speaking on behalf of the ministry, spokesman Adham al-Basyouni asserted that the supposed release of water devastated local farmlands. According to a report published by the Arab Settler Information Center on January 5, 2020, al-Basyouni claimed that the inundation ruined agricultural crops, wiped out beehives, led to the deaths of livestock including cattle and sheep, and caused widespread soil erosion.
Correlation with Heavy Rainfall and Disproven Narratives
Reporting by David Lange on Israellycool demonstrates that the flooding charge resurfaces cyclically every few years, coinciding directly with periods of intense winter rainfall across the region.
Media Dissemination and Retractions
Despite having acknowledged the report as demonstrably false in past English-language coverage, regional arms of the same network, including Al Jazeera Balkans, subsequently disseminated social media posts and articles reviving the identical story in other languages without acknowledging earlier retractions.