INTERNATIONAL DONORS yesterday pledged almost $4.5 billion towards the reconstruction of Gaza following Israel’s recent military offensive, but many joined with aid agencies to warn that efforts to rebuild the territory will fail unless the Israeli blockade is lifted.
“The situation at the border crossings is intolerable. Aid workers do not have access. Essential commodities cannot get in . . . Our first and indispensable goal, therefore, is open crossings,” UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon told donors at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin told the conference that the people of Ireland were “appalled” by the January conflict in Gaza which had resulted in the deaths of some 1,300 Palestinians, more than 400 of whom were children.
He said Ireland would increase its aid to the Palestinian people (€8.6 million last year) by €2.5 million to meet immediate humanitarian and recovery needs.
Stressing the need for Israel to fully open border crossings, Mr Martin told delegates that such a move was “absolutely essential” if humanitarian and reconstruction requirements are to be met.
Following the conference last night, the Minister said UN relief agency chief Karen AbuZayd had told him of the “growing frustration” within Gaza because basic foodstuffs and other essential items such as paper and school books were being turned back at the border. “Last week lentils and pulses were on the list of items not allowed in. It’s just absurd,” Mr Martin said.
He welcomed US secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s contribution to the conference, saying she had made it clear there would be a “very strong” US engagement in getting the Middle East peace process back on track.
“We cannot afford more setbacks or delays, or regrets about what might have been had different decisions been made,” Mrs Clinton, on her first trip to the region as secretary of state, told the gathering. “Our response to today’s crisis in Gaza cannot be separated from our broader efforts to achieve a comprehensive peace.” Telling delegates that the US would contribute $900 million towards reconstruction, she said the aim of the aid was to “foster conditions in which a Palestinian state can be fully realised”.
Mrs Clinton said the sums pledged at the conference should be channelled through the Palestinian Authority and not fall into the “wrong hands”, a pointed reference to Hamas, designated by the US and Europe as a terrorist entity. Israel, which did not attend, made similar remarks.
It is unclear, however, how all the funds pledged yesterday will result in badly needed aid and reconstruction materials reaching the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, given the Israeli blockade and continuing animosity between Hamas and Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Attempts to foster reconciliation between the two have made little progress. A Hamas spokesman accused donors of “politicising” aid by insisting it go through the Palestinian Authority.
Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the total pledged from some 70 countries yesterday was “beyond our expectations”. The Palestinian Authority had requested $2.8bn.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas told the conference that while aid pledges were appreciated, “we insist on the pressing need to achieve substantial progress towards a just settlement [of the conflict with Israel]”.
“We are all conscious that the reconstruction and development efforts will remain insufficient, powerless and threatened in the absence of a political settlement,” he added.