Floods Kill at Least 11 in Israel, W. Bank

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.

Rescue officials said three people were killed and three others injured in the Ein Gedi area when the sides of a highway collapsed in the storm.

Late Friday, in another remote region near the Dead Sea, a woman taking part in a cliff-climbing trip fell into a stream bed and was killed.

One motorist was killed and another person injured when their car went out of control and crashed near the Negev Desert town of Arad.

The cloudbursts coincided with the Sukkot holiday, a weeklong festival during which Jews traditionally eat meals outdoors.

The storms flooded scores of homes and destroyed large tracts of cropland in the Palestinian-ruled West Bank city of Jericho, injuring 12 residents.

At nightfall Saturday, divers and a helicopter were helping in the search for a Palestinian boy, 8, who reportedly fell into a canal in East Jerusalem. Three girls also were missing near Beersheba, officials said.