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ISRAEL-OPT: Improved flow of goods into Gaza

23 Jul 2008 15:22:02 GMT
Source: IRIN

Background

• Israeli-Palestinian conflict

• Food and hunger

JERUSALEM/GAZA, 23 July 2008 (IRIN) - Since a ceasefire a month ago between Israel and militant groups in the Gaza Strip, humanitarian aid groups have reported an improved flow of goods into the enclave.

For the first time since the Islamist Hamas movement took over Gaza in the summer of 2007, cement, gravel and steel items have been imported. Shoes and clothes have also been allowed in, along with juice and some other goods which had been blocked for most of last year.

Fuel imports, while still lagging far behind what Gaza needs, have also increased in the past week. However, power is intermittent: In most areas residents report being without electricity for 10-20 percent of the time.

This has also affected the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU), responsible for the supply of water and the sewerage system: "To compensate for the intermittent [mains] power supply, we use fuel [for diesel generators to power the pumps]," said Monther Shoblak, head of the CMWU.

"But the fuel means more maintenance work, and supplies of spare parts are still limited in Gaza," he explained, adding that import restrictions were still in place. "We have a desperate need for pipes, pumps and generators."

More food allowed in

However, a bright point is that the amount of food, and also animal feed, allowed in has gone up.

While food accounted for about 90 percent of imports before the ceasefire, it is now down to about 70 percent - a sign of how many non-food items were getting in.

"It is a humble improvement," an aid worker in Gaza City who preferred anonymity told IRIN.

However, this will probably not significantly improve food security due to the erratic flow of goods through the crossings: One week can see significantly more imports than the next.

A World Food Programme Food Security and Market Monitoring Report (Report No. 19) released in early July, said that despite UN efforts to distribute food "complemented by other smaller sized food security projects, the food security of the Gazan population will continue to be at risk mainly due to intermittent imports, very high market prices compounded by a cash availability crisis, increased indebtedness and localised food shortages."

Ceasefire - hopes and reservations

"There is a need for something more sustainable for Gaza, a more sustainable economic base," Richard Miron, spokesman for the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO), told IRIN.

Miron recognised the fragility of the ceasefire, but said it was a foundation to build on: "The 'tahadiya' [truce] provides hope for everyone," he said, referring to both the Gazans and the people in southern Israel who had come under rocket fire.

Meanwhile, spokesmen for the military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad have expressed reservations about the ceasefire: "Israel has not allowed goods to enter the Gaza Strip… or opened the crossing points to the extent agreed," Nafith Azzam, a senior Islamic Jihad leader, said recently. Ahmed Yousef, a senior Hamas leader, said that without a change to the "siege", the truce could fall apart.

Israel's position

"The Rafah Crossing will not open until the Gilad Shalit issue is solved," Arye Mekel from Israel's Foreign Ministry told IRIN. Shalit, an Israeli soldier, has been held captive in Gaza for the last two years. No one is allowed to visit him. Hamas has tried to keep the Shalit issue separate from the ceasefire talks.

Mekel said the other crossing points had been opened "significantly" to allow in goods.

Some senior Israeli leaders have also criticised the ceasefire. On 22 July Israeli media reported that Yuval Diskin, head of the General Security Service, had reiterated his opposition to the ceasefire in the Knesset (parliament), saying Hamas was using the lull to strengthen itself, and recommended that the military have a "presence on the ground" in Gaza.

shg/ar/cb

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