Aid agencies condemn failure to end Gaza blockade

SIXTEEN LEADING aid agencies yesterday issued a report condemning Israel and the international community for refusing to end the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

The closure is preventing entry of materials into the Strip needed to rebuild following the offensive Israel launched nearly a year ago.

The 20-page document, Failing Gaza: No Rebuilding, No Recovery, No More Excuses, points out that "little of the extensive damage [which Israel's operation] caused to homes, civilian infrastructure, public services, farms and businesses has been repaired".

Families mourn the 1,393 Palestinians who were killed, society remains “shattered” and “much of Gaza still lies in ruins”. Thirteen Israelis died during the offensive.

The report says $4 billion (€2.8 billion) pledged by foreign donors last March should cover damage to the housing, agricultural and private sectors.

Logistical and security arrangements have been made for large amounts of materials to enter Gaza. But little of the money has been spent and “goods and equip- ment earmarked for rebuilding languish in storage” in Israeli ware- houses.

“This is not an accident; it is a matter of policy,” accuse the agencies, including Trócaire, Amnesty International UK and Oxfam International. They hold Israel primarily responsible, since its crippling blockade allows only basic humanitarian supplies into Gaza.

They also castigate Egypt and the international community for going along with the blockade, which Israel says is meant to topple or put pressure on Gaza’s Hamas government to come to terms with Israel.

The agencies describe the situation before Israel imposed its blockade in June 2007 following the Hamas assumption of power. Israel operated five goods crossings which averaged 70 lorryloads of exports and 583 of goods and humanitarian imports a day. During the first two years of the blockade no exports were allowed and only 112 truckloads a day of certain humanitarian goods were permitted entry. Since the war the number of loads has been reduced further and crossings are closed on two days. Yesterday, 90-100 truckloads crossed at the single remaining open crossing.

The range of goods has been reduced from 4,000 items to 35 categories of items. Basic foodstuffs today make up 74 per cent of imports compared with 17 per cent before the blockade. Before its imposition 7,400 truckloads of building materials entered every month; since Israel’s offensive only 41 loads have been delivered.

Gaza has no cement, gravel, wood, pipes, glass or steel.

Without reconstruction there can be no recovery. Some 15,000 homes were damaged or destroyed during the offensive, displacing 100,000 Palestinians.

The UN estimates 3,450 homes need to be rebuilt, 2,870 homes require major reconstruction, and 52,000 need minor repairs.

The blockade has closed down 98 per cent of Gaza’s industries, while Israel’s offensive destroyed or damaged 700 private businesses, at a cost of $139 million. The war devastated agriculture, electricity and water purification and sanitation plants, health facilities and schools.

The report focuses on the inaction of the EU, which “is a major funder of humanitarian development programmes in [Gaza] and Israel’s largest export market. Despite occasional strong language on the severe humanitarian impact of the blockade, the EU has not succeeded in translating its words into action to end it.”

The report gives examples where governments made efforts to secure access for medical supplies or limited construction materials, but argues these efforts are “woefully inadequate without high-level political pressure to end the blockade altogether”.