Flash floods destroy parts of Israel’s ‘apartheid wall’

Severe flooding has swept away parts of a concrete barrier erected by Israeli authorities, effectively isolating the Shuafat Palestinian refugee camp from the rest of East Jerusalem.

On Thursday evening, Palestinian residents circulated video clips showing heavy torrents of rain that have pounded the area since Wednesday, resulting in the collapse of several parts of the concrete wall.

"[The] security fence in the Shuafat area collapsed as a result of flash floods in the Jerusalem area. Border police are at the scene," Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld tweeted.

According to Rosenfeld, Israeli troops have also been sent to the area to prevent Palestinians from crossing into the adjacent area.

Local residents circulated video clips of children playing in the rubble of the collapsed barrier.

In 2002, under then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Israel began construction of the wall with the ostensible aim of preventing Palestinian attacks inside Israel.

Palestinians, for their part, refer to the barrier as the "apartheid wall".

Roughly 705 kilometers in length, parts of the wall snake through East Jerusalem, isolating several Palestinian neighborhoods, including Shuafat and the village of Kafr Aqeb.