TEXAS STORM

Girl, 4, and woman drown in Texas flooding
Just amazing' amount of rain in short period MSNBC

Floods force hundreds from homes
June 18: Flash flooding caused by heavy rain strikes two mobile home parks, forcing residents to climb to their roofs. NBC's Charles Hadlock reports from Haltom City, Texas.MSNBC

Updated: 9:03 a.m. ET June 18, 2007
HALTOM CITY, Texas - Torrential overnight rainfall flooded a handful of North Texas towns Monday, killing two people and stranding people and their pets on the roofs of their homes awaiting rescue.Creeks swollen by as much as 8 inches of rain inundated parts of the towns of Gainesville and Sherman near the Oklahoma state line.A 4-year-old girl, Alexandria Collins, was swept away to her death while firefighters were trying to rescue her and her mother from their home in Haltom City, a Fort Worth suburb. Her body was found more than two hours later.We were in the boat when the boat capsized,” her mother, Natasha Collins, tearfully told KXAS-TV of Dallas. “The current swept her from my arms.A woman died in Sherman, about 60 miles northwest of Dallas near the Oklahoma state line, after her car stalled in rising water and was swept away, Sherman police Sgt. Bruce Dawsey said. A firefighter was struck by lightning but went back to work helping with rescues, he said.

Nursing home evacuated

About 125 residents of a Sherman nursing home were being evacuated, and an unknown number of people were being rescued from an office building where the roof started caving in, Dawsey said.In Gainesville, aerial video showed dozens of people seeking refuge from the high water on a railroad crossing. Families awaited rescue on their roofs, some having hacked their way to the outside from their attics. Some were joined by their dogs.About 100 mobile homes in Haltom City were inundated and many were washed off their foundations, emergency officials said.When I looked out the window, water was up to the bottom of the window and the current was so fast houses were washing away, said Haltom City resident Rachel Hawkes. You could hear people screaming but we couldn’t get out to help.

About 37,000 people live in Sherman and about 16,500 in Gainesville.

Road closures
Authorities closed Interstate 35 from Gainesville to the Oklahoma state line for several hours, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. Some other roads in the region also were closed by high water.The National Weather Service said rain fell at a rate of an inch every 15 minutes in some places early Monday.We get heavy rains in North Texas, but the rate, the amount, the duration and the coverage of this are just amazing, said Gary Woodall, the warning-coordination meteorologist for the weather service office in Fort Worth.The weather service forecast a chance of isolated thunderstorms in the area Monday and Tuesday but said overall the weather was expected to improve.

EU to Offer Direct Aid to Fatah, Keep Ban on Hamas (Update3)
By James G. Neuger and Stephanie Bodoni

June 18 (Bloomberg) -- European Union governments will back Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas with direct financial aid while continuing an economic boycott of Hamas, the movement now in control of the Gaza Strip, the EU said. Direct aid to Abbas's Fatah government on the West Bank would end the financial embargo imposed on the Palestinian leadership after Hamas, a sworn enemy of Israel, became part of a short-lived Palestinian unity government last year. We promised political support and the only way you can provide political support is with financial support, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told a press conference in Luxembourg after chairing a meeting of EU diplomats. We are expressly ready to provide aid. The EU has been the main donor to the Palestinians, providing 700 million euros ($940 million) in 2006. The money went for welfare support and through United Nations agencies, bypassing Hamas.

The EU will earmark the funds once the new Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, assesses the government's needs and allocates $562 million in Palestinian customs and tax revenue that Israel agreed to unblock. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who traveled to Luxembourg to meet the EU ministers, said Israel is sincere about yesterday's pledge to release the funds that it had withheld while Hamas was in the government.

Weaken Extremists

The message is clear: We are not looking for excuses not to transfer the money, Livni said. We believe that time is of the essence.Livni said Israel is determined to strengthen the Fatah government, which favors a negotiated settlement of the question of Palestinian statehood, and undercut the breakaway Hamas regime. The goal is to weaken extremists and build a genuine alternative to Hamas with the moderates, she said. This is an opportunity to say to the Palestinians that there is an alternative

Direct EU payments could flow to an account set up by Fayyad when he was finance minister last year, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said. Aid to Hamas-controlled Gaza will be funneled through the UN or through temporary arrangements that were used to pay Palestinian energy bills and provide humanitarian support in the past year. Part of the money will be direct, Solana said. The part that will have to go to Gaza -- we will have to see how it goes.Gaza, a seaside stretch of desert with 1.5 million Palestinians, depends on Israel for water, electricity and access to ports for trade.

In order to help the Palestinian people in Gaza we will need some mechanism that cannot be direct support, Solana said. Separately, Israel's tax authorities today halted the release of shipments to the Gaza Strip to prevent goods from building up on the Israeli side of the border crossing, which has been closed since June 13. To contact the reporters on this story: Stephanie Bodoni in Luxembourg at sbodoni@bloomberg.net ; James G. Neuger in Luxembourg at jneuger@bloomberg.net .

INTERESTING HOW THE KILLERS ARE KILLING THEMSELVES OFF. GAZA IS IN TURMOIL AND THE TROOPS WILL SOON BE COMING IN I PREDICT TO GUARENTEE ISRAELS SECURITY, AS WELL AS STOP HAMAS AND FATAH FROM KILLING EACH OTHER.

Justice Minister Offers Opinion: Open the Gaza Gates
by Hillel Fendel

With 300 Arabs at the Erez Crossing hoping to escape Gaza, followed by possibly thousands more, Justice Min. Friedmann says Israel should let the non-dangerous ones in.Hundreds of Fatah-supporters are still crowded on the Gaza side of the Erez Crossing into Israel, hoping to escape the vengeance of Hamas. Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann announced Monday morning that in his opinion, Israel should ease their passage [to Ramallah], as long as they are not Hamas people or endanger Israeli security.

The Fatah would-be refugees say they are caught between Hamas and Israel, and fear for their lives. Hamas wants to kill them, and Israel fears that thousands of people fleeing not Hamas dangers but economic difficulties will also soon try to pour into Judea and Samaria.Manhigut Yehudit, the Likud Party's Jewish Leadership faction headed by Moshe Feiglin, disagrees sharply with Friedmann. The Government of Israel, by allowing Fatah terrorists to enter the territory of the State of Israel,continues to play fast and loose with the lives of its citizens. Gaza must have one land-based departure point only - towards Egypt.

Similarly, Professors for a Strong Israel released this statement: The drums of war between the Palestinian terror groups are barely silent, and the Kadima ministers are already making their foolish distinctions between good terrorists and bad ones, allowing passage to terrorists running from Gaza who in the future will act against us from Ramallah... They are more interested in the humanitarian needs of the enemy's civilians than those of the residents of Sderot.Several dozen Fatah VIPs and their families, journalists and others were allowed out of Gaza over the weekend, but the IDF shot in the air when hundreds of others tried to follow them.

Hamas has begun a house-to-house search for Fatah leaders in Gaza - although this follows it granting amnesty to several leaders who were caught at the end of last week. During the height of the battles last week, both Hamas and Fatah executed leaders of the opposite group. A drama took place at the Erez Crossing on Friday, when a known Palestinian Authority photographer attempted to pass into Israel. Hamas men pursued him, shooting at his taxi. The photographer then jumped from the taxi and began running towards the Israeli side of the crossing, where he was saved.

U.S. to Lift PA Funding Freeze -- in Judea and Samaria
by Hana Levi Julian

The United States is expected to push hard and fast this week Israel and the Palestinian Authority toward America’s goal five years ago to establish a PA state, now that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah terrorist faction is clearly divided from Hamas. U.S. Consul General Jacob Walles left no doubt when speaking to reporters on Sunday that his government intended to move ahead to strengthen whatever control over the PA Abbas has managed to retain in the wake of the civil war.The new emergency PA government installed by Abbas in Ramallah (north of Jerusalem) is expected to receive an infusion of American funding and other support, possibly within the next few days.

This government is going to receive the full support of the United States, said Walles, “very quickly both diplomatically and also economically.U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to announce resumption of funding to the PA, said American sources, sometime during Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s visit to Washington this week.

U.S. Hoping to Head Off a 3-State Solution

“It is true now that [the PA chairman’s government] does not have a great ability to influence events in Gaza, admitted Walles in Jerusalem on Sunday. He said that the U.S. would, however, continue to include Gaza in the working definition of the PA entity, at least for now. The Consul-General added that the U.S. will not abandon Gazas 1.8 million PA residents, although he also acknowledged that the issue of helping them had become more complicated since the Hamas takeover of the area.

But I think ways can be found in order to ensure that this (helping Gaza residents) happens. We dont want to see the Palestinian people in Gaza suffer any more as a result of what’s happened there, he said.The American official also said his government eventually hopes to work with Israel to persuade the Arabs of Gaza to abandon their support of the Hamas terrorist network, but realizes this might have to be a long-term project. It is clear that Abbas has yet to prove his ability to control the terrorist factions that permeate the population in PA-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria. Were not going to lose sight of the need to begin a process between Israel and the Palestinians to resolve the fundamental problems, he said, but before we can do that, I think we need to get the house in order first.More to the point, he added, the new PA government would first have to “ensure law and order and security in the West Bank.

PM Olmert Ready to Take More Risks For Peace

Prime Minister Omert was upbeat about the results of the civil war when speaking to Jewish leaders in New York Sunday night, saying, I personally believe that under the new circumstances, with a much greater cooperation between us and the Palestinian government, we can take perhaps more risks than we took in the past.Olmert explicitly stated that Israel can now hand over to the PA up to half of the $700 million in tax revenues that has been withheld since PA residents elected Hamas to become the ruling faction in their government.We will defreeze monies that we kept under our control because we didn't want these monies to be taken by Hamas to be used as part of a terrorist action, promised the prime minister. Fatah forces surrendered some 50,000 weapons, ammunition, military vehicles and other materiel to Hamas terrorists in Gaza last week after Abbas' loyalists lost the PA civil war.

Abbas PA Gov't Sworn In, Haniyeh Denies He's Out
by Hana Levi Julian

A new, Fatah-led Palestinian Authority government was sworn into power on Sunday in PA-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria. But Hamas still rules the new, Fatah-free Gaza. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas swore in an “emergency government in Ramallah (north of Jerusalem) on Sunday, installing 11 new ministers who are to serve for as long as the PA chairman deems it necessary. According to the PA chairmans aide, Nabil Amar, all of the new ministers are “independent technocrats.
The ceremony took place a day after Abbas issued a decree allowing the formation of a government without prior approval from the Palestinian Legislative Council. The PA chairman had already officially dissolved the Hamas-Fatah “unity government”, led by Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, last Thursday. The emergency government will be led by newly-appointed Prime Minister Salem Fayyad, a professional economist and finance minister in the previous PA government, whose bank account was used to channel foreign aid into Fatah-controlled PA coffers. According to media reports, Fayyad will keep his job as finance minister and will also take on the additional role of foreign minister.

Abdul Razek al-Yihya was sworn in as the new Interior Minister. al-Yihya served as interior minister in the PLO government of the late Yasser Arafat and was involved in negotiations with Israel. The new interior minister faces an uphill battle, having to coordinate security and civilian affairs in the PA-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria, while trying to resurrect the Fatah-linked security forces the few that remain in Gaza.

The rest of the Fatah-appointed PA cabinet ministers are as follows:

Riyad al-Maliki Justice and Information Minister.
Ziyad al-Bandak Municipal Affairs Minister.
Ashraf al-Ajarmi Prisoners, Youth and Sports Minister.
Kamel al-Hasuna Communications, Economy and Public Works Minister.
Hulud Deibas Tourism and Women’s Affairs Minister.
Namis el-Alami Education Minister.
Samir Abdullah Planning Minister.
Fat’hi Abu Marli Health Minister.
Jamal Bawatna Religious Affairs Minister.
Bawatna is also the mufti of the Ramallah district.
Mashhur Abu Dakka Transportation Minister.

Who Rules the PA and in Which Area?

Abbas declared that the new emergency government has authority in Judea and Samaria and in Gaza. He also announced Sunday he was outlawing the Islamist Hamas terrorist organization and disbanding its armed militia. Fatah security men have been attacking Hamas-linked stores and other buildings in Judea and Samaria, burning several of them, since last week. The incidents have taken place primarily in the Samaria cities of Ramallah and Shechem. Local residents said that Fatah members kidnapped several Hamas men last week in Shechem. There were also reports over the weekend that Fatah security men executed a resident for allegedly collaborating with Israel. It was not clear whether the man was associated with Hamas, although it seemed unlikely. Hamas issued a statement in response to the attacks, accusing Fatah of “ethnic cleansing against its members. Fatah spokesman Abu Odai responded by charging Hamas with trying to divert attention from Gaza, where he said Hamas had “murdered 400 Fatah activists.Hamas has led the government after being elected by Palestinian Authority residents to take the helm in a landslide victory at the polls in the PA elections held in January 2006.

Haniyeh insists that mandate is still in force.

The deposed prime minister issued a statement saying The national unity government asserts here that we are fulfilling our duty according to the law. Haniyehs words were echoed by Hamas representative Abu Osama Abd el-Moti, stationed in Iran, who promised that the resistance to Israels presence will get stronger. El-Moti added that Hamas has no intention of establishing a government in the Gaza Strip, and responding to Israels and Fatahs dictates.Hamas is insisting that the new Fatah emergency government is irrelevant, the result of an American-Israeli conspiracy, calling it the peak of illegal political thuggery.Spokesman Ismail Radwan told reporters, The Islamic Resistance Movement considers this government illegitimate and illegal. We will not work with it.Nonetheless, there were glimmers on Sunday that Haniyeh has begun to realize the partys over, dismissing several senior officers in the PA security forces in Gaza. Kamal el-Sheikh, chief of the PA police was one of the first to go, as was the commander of the Preventive Security Services, Rashid Abu Shabak, who had already seen the writing on the wall and tendered his resignation last month.