Humanitarian aid truck entering Gaza via Egypt (archive)
Photo: AFP
Gaza after flotilla
Photo: AP
Aid groups: Gaza plight dire despite easing of blockade
Report issued by 21 aid groups claims only marginal improvement recorded in Gaza blockade following easements declared following May's flotilla. Groups claims Israel dragging its feet on major construction projects, still banning most exports
Israel has only marginally eased its three-year-old blockade of the Gaza Strip, leaving business and construction largely frozen in the impoverished and war-damaged Palestinian territory, a report by several aid groups said Tuesday.
Gaza Siege
Assaf Uni, AP
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The groups accused Israel of ducking promises to ease the blockade's effects on civilians, a pledge it made under pressure after May's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla. The report said Israel is allowing in more food and some building materials but is dragging its feet on major construction projects and still banning most exports.
"We aren't seeing an easing of the blockade compared to Israel's declared aims," said Karl Schembri of Oxfam, among the 21 groups behind the report. Others included Amnesty International and Save the Children.
"It's not having any impact," he said.
Government spokesman Mark Regev said Israel is easing the blockade but must check everything entering Gaza.
"We want to see civilian goods reach the civilian population of the Gaza Strip," he said. "Obviously goods have to be checked to make sure weapons and dual-use goods don't enter the Gaza Strip."
'Bureaucracy slows down projects'
The report said Israel's easing has focused on food and consumer products, which have largely replaced dusty, tunnel-smuggled goods on Gaza's shelves. But it has had little effect on larger projects.
The UN has plans to build 100 schools and 10,000 housing units, some to replace those destroyed in the war. The report said it has been able to start only 7% of these and that even they have been slowed by Israeli bureaucracy and strict border crossings.
Israel has allowed other groups to begin work on projects like sewage plants, wells and community centers, but the report describes these as marginal compared with Gaza's needs.
Overall, 11% of the materials entering Gaza before the blockade are now getting in, the report said.
The report noted that Israel has allowed in materials like wood for building and butter and fabric for factories. But it said the continued ban on most exports and raw materials keeps 65% of Gaza's factories shut.
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