Tracking - Blockade in Gaza

by Michael Bear · 2008-11-22 14:42:00 UTC
Topics:


[Lines of people waiting for bread in Gaza - Footage from CCTV]

Yesterday, John Holmes - the UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs / Emergency Relief Coordinator - urged Israel to allow humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza.  According to Holmes:

"Measures which increase the hardship and suffering of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip as a whole are unacceptable and must cease immediately. The Secretary-General has repeatedly called on Israel to facilitate the delivery of steady and sufficient fuel and humanitarian assistance, and is disappointed that his call has not yet been heeded."

Israel initially sealed the border on November 4th, in response to Hamas rocket and mortar fire against Israeli towns. UN warehouses soon ran empty, causing the UN to suspend food distributions to 750,000 people the week before last.

Israel temporarily lifted the blockade this past Monday, allowing 33 trucks to enter Gaza, including 21 carrying humanitarian supplies. The shipment allowed the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to resume food distributions, even though Israel sealed the border again on Tuesday.

Yesterday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that the continued blockade could cause a further interruption in food distributions:

"Half of the bakeries have shut down due to the lack of cooking gas, and flour shortages are imminent. Food distributions which UNRWA had been able to resume on 17 November will likely be interrupted again in the coming days unless supplies are allowed to enter Gaza."

Continued after the jump:

According to a Palestinian aid worker in Gaza interviewed by the BBC:

"People in Gaza are waiting in lines for almost everything, and that's if they're lucky enough to find something to wait for.  People queue for two or three hours for bread, but sometimes there's no cooking gas or flour, so no bread.  People wait in line for UN food handouts, but sometimes there aren't any. The suffering is reaching every aspect of life. I've got three young children. It's difficult to explain to them that it's not my fault we don't have electricity and that it's not in my control."

A Palestinian official added: "Due to the ongoing siege, we have severe shortage of basic food products in addition to the shortage of medicines, fuels, cooking gas and the industrial diesel used for operating Gaza main power station."

In addition, the head of Gaza's water authority now estimates that 40% of people in Gaza city are now without access to running water in their homes.

For more information about the impact of the closures on Gaza, see here.

Michael Bear
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