GAZA’S RELENTLESS downward spiral could be halted and turned around quickly if the world community were to exercise the will to end the siege and blockade of the strip, according to John Ging, the Irishman who heads UNRWA – the UN Relief and Works Agency – which cares for Palestinian refugees.
He urged EU foreign ministers to visit Gaza and see the conditions there before it was too late. “There is no economy in Gaza,” he told The Irish Times.
The economy has been devastated by years of blockade and hostilities. Israel’s latest war destroyed or damaged the homes of 50,000 families, brought the water and sewerage systems close to collapse, and decimated the few jobs remaining.
Only basic humanitarian supplies are allowed into Gaza in small quantities. UNRWA’s warehouses are bare. He said the agency was operating “hand to mouth” in terms of aid distribution.
“Six weeks after the school year opened, we are lagging behind with school-books, paper and desks,” Mr Ging said.
Finances are a problem. While the agency’s urgent post-war appeal received a generous response, it continues to have greater demand for its services than its resources allow. “We need more money. The price of political failure in this conflict is an expensive price, not just in terms of the impact on human rights but in the cost of sustaining this man-made disaster . . . the people are [prevented from] sustaining themselves because of the illegal siege on Gaza,” Mr Ging said. If the political issues could not be resolved, then there was an onus on everyone to ensure that human suffering was avoided, he added.
“All of us here argue that it is much more important to get the siege lifted than to perpetuate this situation.
“Eighty-five per cent [of 1.5 million Gazans] depends on handouts of food from the UN to survive. All aspects of life are a struggle. People are losing hope. The whole society is being broken down.”
The mindset of Gazans was being transformed. “A decent, civilised people become hostile. The most vulnerable are the children, half the population. They are susceptible to the environment which gives opportunities to extremism,” Mr Ging said.
UNRWA was doing its best to counter extremism with the support of the community, he added.
Opening the borders to allow imports of materials for reconstruction, manufacturing and agriculture and to permit exports would unleash the potential of the workforce and entrepreneurs who remain committed to Gaza, Mr Ging said.
Tamer Qarmout, of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), agreed. “The problem is lack of freedom of access.”
He said unemployment was estimated at 40-50 per cent. However, most of those in jobs work for the government, the UN and foreign agencies. Many take part in short-term job creation schemes.
Thousands more are employed in the shadow economy created by hundreds of smuggling tunnels that bring in goods from Egypt. But the tunnels are a curse as well as a blessing.
Farmers, who depend on smuggled seed and fertiliser, are being undercut by cheap produce from Israel and abandoning agriculture. Shoddy equipment brought in through the tunnels breaks easily and soon has to be replaced.
He pointed out that since the Palestinian Authority was created in 1994, the EU and US had invested $7 billion (€4.8 billion) in the Gaza strip and West Bank. Most of this investment has been destroyed by Israeli military action.
The situation is increasingly desperate. Mr Ging warned that UNRWA may not be able to pay salaries by the end of the year.
Billions of dollars pledged by donors for reconstruction have not been delivered, while UNDP’s development programmes have been frozen.