December 2, 2010
The disastrous humanitarian situation in Gaza is far from improving, observers warn, Dina Ezzat reports

"Lifting the blockade on Gaza remains a legal, economic and political imperative for those seeking a lasting resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," states an international report issued Tuesday. The report adds: "The time for credible and effective action is now."

Issued by group of international humanitarian and legal rights organisations, Dashed Hopes is a 12-page report that examines the current humanitarian situation in Gaza and warns of grave consequences should the needs of civilians living in the densely populated and harshly impoverished Strip continue to be denied.

According to the report, only seven per cent of the required construction material demanded by UNRWA for the building (and rebuilding) of schools and healthcare centres had been approved by Israel and much less has been allowed into the Gaza Strip, despite Israeli commitments offered to the international community to allow in construction materials.

Israel's three-week open war on Gaza from late December 2008 into January 2009 has left Gaza with enormous damage. A donor conference hosted by Egypt weeks after the end of the war promised to rebuild Gaza but to date most of these promises have not been honoured -- largely due to the restrictions imposed by the Israeli government on the transportation of construction material.

And while humanitarian workers in Gaza report that almost two years after the war there are still civilians living in gravely demolished houses, the Tuesday report notes that while 670,000 truckloads of construction material should be allowed into the Strip, only an average of 715 is permitted.

The report notes further Israeli failures to honour its commitments along with its legally binding responsibilities as an occupying power. It reveals that two thirds of the factories in Gaza are unable to operate due to Israeli restrictions -- either on the introduction of industrial material or on the exports of goods produced.

"The list extends far beyond the international definition of dual-use items... Many items absent from [the] list still require special approval, and many of them have not received it."

In addition, the report reveals, the number of truckloads of export has gone down significantly from an agreed upon 400 per day in 2005 to 224 in 2007.

Meanwhile, Dashed Hopes reminds the world that citizens of Gaza are still denied legitimate freedom of movement. Although it notes an increase in permits to entry and exit Gaza for businesspeople, it observes that an "overall ban on exit and entry is still in place [for ordinary citizens]."

Many, the report underlines, seek healthcare outside of Gaza and are denied, their well being jeopardised due to the lack of necessary medical equipment locally.

Israel controls most of the crossing points linking Gaza to the outside world and has been imposing restrictions since the 1990s. But since 2007, it has significantly augmented these restrictions to a point where some international humanitarian organisations qualify Gaza as an open-air prison.

Tellingly, Dashed Hopes confirms that "fewer permits are approved by the Israeli government for UN local humanitarian staff than before" and that the restrictive permit policy for aid workers and medical patients is "still arbitrary, unpredictable and time consuming".

The report comes a few weeks before the second anniversary of the last Israeli war on Gaza -- Operation Cast Lead -- that killed around 1,500 people and left Gaza in an abyss of human suffering.