Israel has done enough to ease the pressure on itself from the international community, but too little to ease the restrictions on the daily lives of the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza, half of whom are children, says the report, Dashed Hopes: Continuation of the Gaza Blockade. The report says that not only has Israel left out major elements of the blockade in its ‘easing’ measures, such as lifting the ban on exports from Gaza, but it has failed so far to live up to key commitments it did make.
Israel promised to expand and accelerate imports of desperately-needed construction materials for UN and other international projects such as schools, health centres, houses and sewage plants, many of which were damaged or destroyed during the military offensive in December 2008-January 2009. But in reality the report shows that progress has been slow and limited since this pledge. Israel has so far only approved the import of materials for 25 UNRWA construction projects for schools and clinics, a mere 7 per cent of the UN body’s entire reconstruction plan for Gaza. And even for these approved projects, only a small fraction of the required construction materials have actually been permitted to enter Gaza so far.
More generally, says the report, the UN has estimated that Gaza needs 670,000 truckloads of construction materials for housing alone in Gaza. But less than one thousand truckloads a month of construction materials have entered the Gaza Strip since the ‘easing’ announcement; only 11% of the levels before the blockade was imposed, says the report. At this rate, it would take many decades to build the needed homes. And because UNRWA has been unable to get construction materials to build new schools, 40,000 eligible children could not be enrolled at UN schools at the start of the new academic year.
Moreover, the ‘easing’ has had little impact on exports which are almost entirely banned. This leaves two thirds of Gaza’s industrial businesses closed and the rest operating at partial capacity, while increased inflows of finished consumer goods undercut local producers who cannot export or restart their businesses, say the groups.
Janet Symes, Christian Aid’s Head of Middle East Region said: “The international community prioritises the importance of economic development in the peace process in the Middle East – yet with the continued ban on exports Gaza is crippled economically – how can it stand on its own two feet? The psychological impact of relying on food vouchers has devastated the community in Gaza. People want jobs to make a living in a dignified manner and not exist on handouts.”
The movement of people has also seen little change. Despite the Israeli government’s stated commitment to streamline entry and exit to and from Gaza for humanitarian aid workers, the report shows that there has in fact been an increase in refusals of entry and exit for UN agencies’ local humanitarian staff since the “easing” measures were announced. Meanwhile, the general population of Gaza remains locked in, as their freedom of movement to travel, work, study or visit family members and friends outside Gaza continues to be denied. Despite a rise in the number of businesspeople allowed to travel, there has been no increase in the overall number of Palestinians allowed to leave Gaza through the Israeli crossings, which remains below one per cent of levels prior to the second intifada in 2000.
Commenting recently, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton stated that, ‘We think that what’s happened with Gaza is unsatisfactory, that Israel has failed to live up to its commitments on easing the blockade on the Gaza strip.
Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said: "The so-called ‘easing’ of the Gaza blockade does not change the fact that there’s still a cruel and illegal blockade collectively punishing the entire civilian population. The only real easing has been the easing of pressure on the Israeli authorities to end this cruel and illegal practice."
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (FIDH) - AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL UK – BROEDERLIJK DELEN – CAFOD – CCFD-TERRE SOLIDAIRE – CHRISTIAN AID – CHURCH OF SWEDEN – CORDAID – DIAKONIA – EURO-MEDITERRANEAN HUMAN RIGHTS NETWORK – HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL – IKV PAX CHRISTI – MEDICAL AID FOR PALESTINIANS – MEDICO INTERNATIONAL – MS ACTION AID DENMARK – NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL (NRC) – OXFAM INTERNATIONAL – QUAKER COUNCIL FOR EUROPEAN AFFAIRS – RCT – REDD BARNA – SAVE THE CHILDREN UK – TROCAIRE