[News] Israel blocks cash shipments to Gaza

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Israel prevents Abbas from bringing cash to Gaza

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE50K3KM20090121
Wed Jan 21, 2009 9:33am EST

By Adam Entous

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel is preventing the Western-backed 
Palestinian Authority from transferring cash to the Gaza Strip to pay 
its workers and others hard-hit by war, Western and Palestinian 
officials said on Wednesday.

The restrictions threatened to undercut the ability of President 
Mahmoud Abbas's West Bank-based government to reassert a presence in 
the Hamas-ruled territory after Israel's 22-day offensive, said the 
officials, who asked not to be identified.

The cash restrictions also underscored the wider hurdles facing 
reconstruction, estimated to cost more than $2 billion, in the Gaza 
Strip, where 1.5 million Palestinians live.

Israel has told the United Nations and other aid groups planning for 
the rebuilding they must apply for project-by-project Israeli 
approval and provide guarantees none of the work will benefit Hamas.

Israel had no immediate comment on why the Palestinian Authority's 
post-war cash shipments were being blocked. The restrictions were put 
in place long before fighting broke out on December 27, with Israel 
arguing that Gaza had enough cash in circulation and that some of the 
money could end up with Hamas.

Middle East envoy Tony Blair, the International Monetary Fund and the 
World Bank countered that the restrictions were crippling Gaza's 
economy and undermining the Palestinian Authority, which adopted 
anti-money laundering rules to prevent any of the money from going to 
Hamas and other groups.

It is unclear how Gaza's reconstruction will be handled. "It's a 
Pandora's box," one senior diplomat said, citing the restrictions 
imposed by Israel and the international community.

Western powers consider Hamas a "terrorist" organization and refuse 
to transfer money directly to the group or its government in the Gaza 
Strip. But the Palestinian Authority has had little presence in the 
coastal territory since Hamas routed Abbas's secular Fatah faction 
and seized control in June 2007.

Reconstruction largely hinges on convincing Israel to lift 
restrictions on imports of cash and building materials, like steel 
and cement. Israel has long argued that such imports can be used by 
the Islamist group to rearm.

"The Gaza Strip was almost destroyed and it needs everything," said 
Nabil al-Zaeem, head of the Palestinian Commercial Service Co., one 
of Gaza's largest cement importers.

He said rebuilding will not happen "if things did not change 
regarding the flow of cement and other construction materials."

CASH REQUEST

Abbas's government, headed by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, has asked 
Israel for permission to send more than $80 million to the Gaza 
Strip. That includes 243 million Israeli shekels ($62 million), the 
tender used in the Palestinian territories.

The shipment would cover salary payments to some 77,000 Palestinian 
Authority workers in Gaza who report to Fayyad, as well as pension 
and welfare payments for retirees and the poor. Much of the money 
comes from the European Union.

Of the money requested, Western officials said Israel has so far 
allowed in only some $10 million for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency 
(UNRWA). Several of the agency's facilities in the Gaza Strip were 
bombed by Israel during the fighting.

"So far we haven't seen any change in the approach of the Israeli 
authorities. But the needs are much more dire now," Palestine 
Monetary Authority Governor Jihad Wazir told Reuters.

Alix de Mauny, a spokeswoman for the European Commission office for 
the West Bank and Gaza Strip, confirmed that Israel has yet to allow 
the transfer of the cash to the Gaza Strip.

"Recovery and reconstruction of Gaza will be deeply hampered without 
the opening of the crossings to humanitarian and commercial goods, as 
well as cash," she said.

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Editing by Alison Williams)




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