Coastal area, seaport and airport

OCHA 8 March report reads that:

Following the elections in the occupied Palestinian territory, the Israeli government has stopped talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA) on the construction of a seaport in the Gaza Strip. Yet, the 15 November Agreement stated that the construction could commence.

The Israeli government has also cut off talks with the PA on the issue of operating an airport in Gaza following the elections.

Regarding fishing catch, OCHA reports that in Februray 2006, it was higher (58 tonnes) than the previous month but lower than the catch in February 2000, 2004 and 2005.

Since January 2005, the Israeli authorities have permitted Palestinian fishing up to 10 nautical miles from the Gaza Strip coastline compared to six nautical miles previously. Unde the Oslo Agreement, fishermen are entitled to fish 20 nautical miles from the coast. Palestinian fishing is prohibited one nautical mile north of the border with Egypt and one and a half nautical miles south of the border with Israel.

(See my March 17th posting for a similar yet a bit different account on 'permitted' fishing area)

Artistitic work on Gaza food shortage due to Karni crossing closure

by Palestinian artists Raaof Haj Yahia and Ali Batha.

Karni crossing opened but not fully operating

A press release by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) dated 22 March 2006 highlighting that:

• Karni crossing has re-opened but is not fully operating, therefore not letting sufficient food aid in
• There is a lack of fuel to distribute the food that comes in

As a reminder, here are some data which I had already typed down in my January 27th posting:

• More than 1.4 million Palestinians live in the Gaza Strip.
• 90% of the population are refugees.
• Some 65 to 75 per cent of Gazans are impoverished (compared to 30 per cent in 2000); many are hungry.
• About 42 per cent of Gazans are categorised by the World Food Programme (WFP) as 'food insecure'; in five areas of Gaza, the figure exceeds 50 per cent. An additional 30 per cent of the population is 'food vulnerable', i.e. under threat of becoming food insecure or malnourished.
• According to the World Bank, Palestinians are currently experiencing the worst economic depression in modern history, caused primarily by the long-standing Israeli restrictions that have dramatically reduced Gaza's levels of trade and virtually cut off its labour force from their jobs inside Israel.

Gaza Strip situation report 23 March 2006

The latest OCHA update on access to the Gaza Strip.

To follow up on access and closures to the Gaza Strip, OCHA website is a good place to go.

Commercial point of access between Gaza and Israel closed

Primary point for passage of goods between Gaza and Israel closed since February 12 despite the Access and Movement agreement brokered between Israel and the Palestinian Authority by the Quartet and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on 15 November 2005. See OCHA update dated 19 March.

Fishers facing tight squeeze

From the International Middle East media Centre (IMEMC). The media centre is a collaboration between Palestinian and International journalists to provide an English language media coverage of Israel-Palestine.

Wednesday 8 March 2006

"Fisherman have also faced a tight squeeze due to Israeli security forces controlling where and when they can fish, creating an arbitrary 'line in the sea', and enforcing it at will, firing at fishermen when they enter the sea to fish out of their small boats.

Director of the marine department in the agriculture Ministry, Mr. Tariq Saqer, said that fishing contributes 2% to the Palestinian national income, although it previously contributed much more.

Now, due to Israeli naval forces firing arbitrarily at fishermen, they are afraid to venture outside of a two-square mile area of coast, a tiny patch that is completely insufficient to provide the fish necessary to maintain their livelihood.

The United Nations and various human rights groups have condemned the Israeli closure and economic and military control of the Gaza Strip, saying that the current closure is causing a severe food crisis in Gaza."

The beginning of the IMEMC article speaks about the financial catastrophe of the Gush Katif greenhouses - transferred to the Palestinian Administration as a gift - due to Israeli closing of the Karni crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip since February 12. This shows that at the moment fishing is still the only real industry in the Strip of Gaza. But most importantly the closing of the Karni crossing, the commercial crossing for Gaza, is likely to lead to a humanitarian crisis in the Strip: flour stocks are finished as well as other basic food commodities.