Humanitarian Catastrophe in Gaza

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights calls on the International Community to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

More on their website

Blogging from gaza

Interesting to read inside stories. Here is the blog of Laila El-Haddad, a journalist and mother, living in between the US and Gaza.

http://a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/

Heba's blog, which I found reading that of Laila

http://www.contemplating-from-gaza.blogspot.com/

Gaza's 2 billion pounds of natural gas

Twenty miles from the beach of Gaza there is a reserve of 2 billion worth of natural gas, according to estimates. So enough to generate revenues for the Palestinians and not rely on international aid. Yet the plan to develop the gas marine field was blocked by Ariel Sharon during the second Intifada. Ariel Sharon said that there was no way he would allow a project to grow that would earn money for Yasser Arafat. With Sharon in coma, and the intifada sort of ended, there has been a plan for Israel to become the purchaser, in what the journalist sees as a win-win situation (secure source of gas for Israel/secure revenues for Palestine). Yet no agreement is in sight in spite of public statement by Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, in support of the project, leaving Palestinians dependent on international aid.

The journalist concludes that: "If Mr Blair is serious about his mission to help develop a sustainable Palestinian economy, he could put his weight behind getting the Gaza gas project off the ground. So far, he has set his sights a bit lower, talking publicly only about redeveloping a sewage plant in Gaza and cautiously dodging attempts to involve him with Gaza Marine."

Tim Butcher in the Dayly Telegraph - British Newspaper - 07/11/2007

Israel Navy harassing and humiliating Gaza fishermen

in the Ha'aretz, Israeli newspaper, on 26 February 2007, so a few months ago, but still an interesting article.

"An Israeli human rights group has charged that the Israel Navy is harassing and humiliating Gaza fishermen, who said they cannot make a living because of restrictions."

"Musalam Abu Shalouf, 32, said he was taken in January after trying to retrieve a fishing net about two kilometers (one mile) from the shore. An Israel Navy boat approached and fired bullets in his direction. He was then told to strip to his underwear and swim toward the boat - but it kept moving away."I swam for about 20 minutes. I was then handcuffed and blindfolded," Abu Shalouf said."

"Before Israeli-Palestinian fighting broke out in 2000, fishing accounted for almost 7 percent of agricultural output," said Tarek Saker, director general of fisheries at the Palestinian Agriculture Ministry. "But in 2006, Palestinian fishermen caught half as much as they did in 1999 - largely due to Israeli restrictions on fishing.""It is endangering their life and certainly their health, and it's also very humiliating and threatening," said Sarit Michaeli, a B'Tselem spokeswoman"

28 october: a boat of palestinian refugees breaks into pieces before reaching Italian coast

Seen in Italian news -

"Un barcone carico di palestinesi si spezza davanti a Roccella JonicaSalvi in 110, 25 i feriti. Erano partiti dall'Egitto in 170"

my translation: "A boat of palestinian refugees breaks into pieces before reaching Roccella Jonica (Italy). Out of 135 people, 25 are injured. There were 170 refugees when the boat left from Egypt."

It is the first time I hear this happening in the news. I mean since I started this blog. The news item doesn't say where they originally came from (Gaza, as the boat left from Egypt?) but it clearly shows desparation.

Israeli cabinet to impose sanctions on supplies of electricity, fuel and other basic goods and services to the civilian population of Gaza

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) calls upon the international community to prevent this crime against humanity from being carried out. Indeed, the very legal framework invoked by Israel to carry out this illegal and immoral act – declaring Gaza a “hostile entity” within a “conflict short of war” – has absolutely no standing in international law. The collective punishment of an entire civilian population, by contrast, is explicitly prohibited. http://www.icahd.org/eng/

Gaza 'hostile'

From BBC website (dated September 19 2007)

The Israeli government has declared the Gaza Strip a "hostile entity" in response to the continued rocket attacks by Palestinian militants there.

A spokesperson told the Reuters news agency that there would be "limitations on imports to the Gaza Strip and a reduction in the supply of fuel and electricity".

Correspondents say that by formally declaring Gaza "hostile", Israel could argue that it is no longer bound by international law governing the administration of occupied territory to supply utilities to its 1.5 million inhabitants.

But the current position is that, under international law, Israel remains legally responsible for the coastal strip, despite withdrawing two years ago, because it still controls Gaza's borders, air space and territorial waters.

Call on International Agencies to Support the Fishers of Gaza

The freegaza group (human rights observers, aid workers, and journalists with experience in Gaza and the West Bank) calls:

• upon Fisheries Research Institutes around the globe to conduct research and promote technological development in the fishery sector of Gaza.
• ask this industry to raise their voice over this issue.
• call on them to join the Free Gaza international initiative as independent researchers when we sail to Gaza in the fall.
• ask them to conduct on-the-ground research to reveal the environmental impact of over fishing that has devastated the people of the Gaza Strip.

Their aim is to publicise the problem amongst Fisheries Institutes b) so that Fisheries Institutes take the decision to conduct research in the Strip.

More information on their site. Their research work is based on two UN documents:
http://overfishing.org/interesting/documents/fisheries_gaza/2007_OCHA_special_report_gaza_fisheries.pdf
http://overfishing.org/interesting/documents/fisheries_gaza/2007_gaza_WFP_food-security.pdf

Gaza Situation Report

Dated June 20, OCHA reports:

Crossing points into Gaza remain largely closed.The re-opening of Karni crossing vital to prevent general food shortages is expected within 2-4 weeks. UNRWA wheat flour reserves 10 days, and WFP food reserves 7 days, unless normal imports are resumed. Seven truckloads of food (WFP) and 3 trucks of medical supplies (ICRC/WHO) entered Gaza through Kerem Shalom on 19 June.

The Gaza Strip has been relatively calm since 15 June. The Ministry of Health reports 135 deceased and 487 injured as a result of fighting. These are official numbers. Independent estimates are higher. There are intermittent reports of extrajudicial killings raising concerns about violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.

More in the report.

Alvaro de Soto's end of mission report

Dated may 2007, the end of mission report of the Under Secretary General United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process is worth a read. Key points for me are:

• the Gaza disengagement process (paragraphs 8 to 22)
• The role of the Quartet in the current crisis (following election of Hamas)
• The value of the UN as the guardian of international law and not as a political actor (paragraphs 105 to 114)

Crisis in Gaza

What future for Gaza?

The humanitarian situation in the Strip of Gaza has been deteriorating as a result of continued Israeli control of borders, trade, entry into Gaza and of the suspension of international aid to the Palestinian National Authority following the election of Hamas last January.

The bloody fighting between Hamas and Fatah movement, which has peaked with Hamas’ complete control of the Gaza Strip by its military wing—Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades, has taken the lives of 146 Palestinians (36 of them are civilians), including 5 children and 8 women, and has wounded at least 700 others according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights.

With Israel closing all border crossings with the Strip, Gaza being defined as a hostile entity, its whole population seen as allied to Hamas, it is expected that the humanitarian situation will further deteriorate.

Sailing a boat to Gaza

Sailing a boat to Gaza or challenging Israel's claim that they no longer occupy Gaza.

For the second anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, Greta Berlin, a 66 years old businesswoman from Los Angeles, USA, is one of the many people organizing an unusual project: sailing to Gaza. The idea which sprang last October is a political as well as humanitarian decision - Greta Berlin says.

The journey will begin in Alexandria or Cyprus toward the end of this summer. 50 to 80 of men and women, many over 50, will embark on a boat called FREE GAZA. Their mission states:" We tried to enter Palestine by ground. We tried to enter by air. Now we are going to go by sea."

Today the sardines broke the blockade

In spite of the Israeli restrictions to fish only up to 6 nautical miles off the Gaza coast, sardines this season made their way up to fishermen nets. Joy in Gaza.

The article dated May, 11th, is by Yousef Alhelou, a freelance Palestinian journalist based in Gaza, who can be contacted at ydamadan@hotmail.com.

Gaza Fishing Industry in Danger

18 April 2007 - the latest OCHA report looks at the economic, social and environmental impact of Israeli restrictions on the fishing industry. Key observations include:

• There is a need for an immediate increase in the fishing range beyond the current 6 nautical miles;
• If fishing range restrictions continue, future fishing stocks will be threatened;
• The fishing industry faces long term decline: It generated over $10 million in revenue pre-Intifada; today it brings in less than half this amount.
• Fishermen and those dependent on the industry for their livelihoods are moving from self reliance to dependence on food aid and job creation schemes.

• April is peak season for many migrating fish in the Mediterranean.
• Without an easing of fishing restrictions, Gazans will lose up to 70% of their annual catch.

Implementation of the Agreement on Movement and Acess (AMA)

"In one of many reports and accounts of economic life in the Gaza Strip that I have recently read, I was struck by a description of an old man standing on the beach in Gaza throwing his oranges into the sea. The description leapt out at me because it was this very same scene I myself witnessed some 21 years ago during my very first visit to the territory. It was the summer of 1985 and I was taken on a tour of Gaza by a friend named Alya. As we drove along Gaza's coastal road I saw an elderly Palestinian man standing at the shoreline with some boxes of oranges next to him. I was puzzled by this and asked Alya to stop the car. One by one, the elderly Palestinian took an orange and threw it into the water. His was not an action of playfulness but of pain and regret. His movements were slow and labored as if the weight of each orange was more than he could bear. I asked my friend why he was doing this and she explained that he was prevented from exporting his oranges to Israel and rather than watch them rot in his orchards, the old man chose to cast them into the sea. I have never forgotten this scene and the impact it had on me." by Sara Roy, Senior Research Scholar at the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard.

Are Gazans still throwing their oranges into the sea?

In the period going from 21 March to 03 April 2007, the UN report on the implementation of the Agreement on Movement and Acess (AMA)* notes that: no commercial goods went through Rafah (the crossing point for exports to Egypt); Karni, the primary crossing point for commercial goods into and out of Gaza, was open for imports and exports on all schedules working days, although actual opering hours varied between 3 hours and 8,5 hours (i.e. 43% of schedules operating hours) and the number of trucks importing goods into Gaza exceeded that of exporting goods (p6). There were no operations at Seaport and Airport - still closed.

*concerned with the movement of Palestinians and with the traffic of commercial goods into and out of Gaza.

Gaza Strip after the Disengagement

I remember some Palestinians felt the Gaza disengagement plan was a good thing. It is true that prior to the disengagement, internal movement was almost impossible within the Gaza Strip. In Al Mawasi, for instance, in the south of the Strip, 5,000 people, mostly fishers, farmers and their families, were not allowed to move, stuck between the settlement and the sea with no access to fishing and no markets for goods. The area was controlled by a check point through which access was almost impossible.

What has changed since for the Gazans...This is from B'tselem website:

"In September 2005, Israel completed the " Gaza disengagement plan" that had been approved by the government and the Knesset. The two primary components of the plan were dismantling of the Gaza settlements and moving the settlers to Israeli territory, and removal of all IDF forces from the area. After the plan was completed, Israel issued an order declaring the end of the military government in the Gaza Strip, and claimed that it was no longer responsible for ensuring the proper functioning of life there. However, Israel continued to control the air and sea space, movement between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (also via neighboring countries), the population registry, family unification, and the crossing of goods to and from Gaza . Also, residents of the Gaza Strip rely solely on Israel for its supply of fuel, electricity, and gas. Until 28 June 2006, an independent electric-power station operated in the Gaza Strip, producing about one-half of the electricity needed by the residents in the Strip. The station relied completely on fuel and gas from Israel. On 28 June, Israel bombed the electric-power station. Since then, residents of the Gaza Strip have relied completely on Israel for their electricity.

The army's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and dismantlement of the settlements resulted in appreciable improvement in the freedom of movement of Palestinians within the Strip, and much land was made available to the Palestinian Authority. Also, the Palestinian Authority was given control over the Rafah crossing, through which residents of the Gaza Strip holding Palestinian identity cards are free to cross to and from Egypt , provided the crossing is open, without Israel 's approval. However, Israel retained the power to compel the Palestinian Authority to close the Rafah crossing. Israel exercised this power following the abduction of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, on 26 June 2006.

Other than the improvement and benefit mentioned above, the disengagement did not lead to any improvement in the living conditions of the area's residents, and Israel continues to violate their rights by its various acts and omissions.

Israel 's frequent closing of the crossings between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank severely infringed the right of Gazans to work and to adequate living conditions. They also made it harder for Gazan exporters to compete and develop their businesses, and led to a significant drop in the availability of basic goods and medicines and to a sharp increase in their prices. Israel 's decision to drastically curtail the number of Gazans allowed to work in Israel left many families without a source of livelihood. As a result, forty percent of the work force in Gaza is unemployed. Israel froze, following the establishment of the Hamas government, the transfer to the PA of tax moneys it collected for it. This action prevents the payment of salaries to public employees and aggravates the already bad economic condition. Eighty percent of the residents of the Gaza Strip live under the poverty line.

The right to family life in the Gaza Strip, too, has not improved since disengagement. Families that are split, with some members, spouses included, living in the Gaza Strip and others in the West Bank, have suffered from prolonged separation as a result of Israel's absolute prohibition on Palestinian's traveling from the one area to the other, and the sweeping restrictions on crossing via Egypt and Jordan. In addition, the Knesset enacted a statute prohibiting family unification of Palestinians from the Occupied Territories with Israeli citizens and residents, and Israel does not allow its citizens and residents who are married to Gazans to enter the Strip to visit their families. "

The article continues..

Control of the territorial waters

From B'tselem, The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories.

"While there is no fence along Gaza 's coastline, residents do not have open access to the sea. Palestinians wanting to go to sea need to request a permit from Israel . Those who obtain a permit are not allowed to sail far from shore. Anyone who violates the prohibition puts his life at risk: in the past, Israeli patrol boats have fired at boats that exceeded the maximum distance allowed. Israel 's Navy patrols the waters and thwarts attempts to enter or leave Gaza by sea.

In the Interim Agreement, signed by Israel and the PLO as part of the Oslo peace process, Israel undertook to allow fishing boats from Gaza to go some twenty nautical miles (about thirty-seven kilometers) from the coastline (except for a few areas, to which they were prohibited entry). However, Israel did not in fact issue permits to all applicants, and allowed fishing up to a distance of no more than ten nautical miles. Following implementation of the disengagement plan, Israel reduced the fishing area even more, and since the abduction of Cpl. Shalit, on 25 June 2006, fishermen have not been allowed to go further than three nautical miles from shore. As a result, the fishing sector in Gaza , which provides a livelihood to many Gazan families and is an important source of food for Gazans, suffered a harsh blow.

In the agreements signed by the parties since the beginning of the Oslo peace process, the sides repeatedly agreed to work toward building and operating a seaport in Gaza . In the summer of 2000, infrastructure work began to build the port, but in October of that year Israel bombed the construction site in response to the killing of two soldiers in Ramallah by Palestinians. As a result, the donor states ceased funding the project, and no work has been done on the seaport since then. In the AMA , of November 2005, Israel agreed to allow construction of the port. Moreover, in order to assure that foreign donors and investors would not be deterred from investing in the project, Israel undertook to guarantee that it would not again interfere with the operation of the port and to cooperate in establishing the security and other relevant arrangements which would need to be made prior to the opening of the port. To date, no action has been taken in this matter. "

Note of the week

"Four Israeli military boats opened fire and rounded up 14 Palestinian fishing boats in Rafah and forced them to sail towards deeper waters. IDF vessels tied the boats and ordered the fishermen to jump in the water and swim individually towards the military ships. A total of 54 Palestinian fishermen were interrogated before later being released while two others were arrested. "

source: OCHA, weekly report 14 March- 20 March 2007 (OCHA is the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs)

Weekly report+News Footage

OCHA reports that on the week of March 7th-13th 2007:

• two Palestinian fishermen were injured when Israeli Defence Force (IDF) gunboats opened fire at three fishing boats in Rafah.
• The IDF opened fire a total of eight times at Palestinians either from the border fence or out at sea.
  

This reminded me of a ICRC news footage on Rafah fishermen struggle for survival. The footage which is worth taking a look at includes an interview of Nizar Ayash, Representative of Fisherman’s Union which summarises well Gazan fishers' problems:
"First, one of the major problems is marketing the fish, because it is forbidden to sell the fish in other Palestinian markets. Second is the limited fishing zone, just 38 kilometres along the beaches of Gaza Strip. Third is the fact that the Israeli Navy regularly shoots at the fishermen when they are out at sea."

Fishing is inherited in Gaza

"Fishing is inherited in Gaza. I grew up knowing nothing else. I can be nothing but a fisherman," Kahlout says in an article posted on IRIN webiste on Sept. 2006 recalling the long tradition of fishing in Gaza.

There are 2,500 registered fishers in the Strip of Gaza and a further 2,500 people employed in the fishing industry (e.g. fish marketing, boat services, boat repair and maintenance). Out of the 1,4 million Palestinians living in the Strip, it is estimated that approximately 35,000 people rely on the fishing industry as a source of food or income.

The fisheries sector is relatively small compared to the major fisheries of neighbouring countries. Yet, for the economy of Gaza (characterised by a high unemployment rate, a severe shortage of job opportunities, and a lack of natural resources), the fisheries sector has been and could be a significant source of high protein food, employment, income and foreign exchange earnings.

Yet fishing has been subject to restrictions and bans by Israel which "(...) significantly scaled down the amount, size, and variety of fish that fishermen can catch," Tareq Saqer, Director General of Fish Resources in the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture, says.

Saqer says that the "unfair restrictions" placed on Palestinian fishermen cost the fishing sector millions of dollars in fishing equipment destroyed by Israeli naval forces in addition to millions more in lost income from fish sales.

[More on restrictions on to the IRIN website article. IRIN stands for Integrated Regional Information Networks. It is part of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, but its services are editorially independent.]