[News] 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza still displaced from 2014 war

[Anti-Imperialist News]

  35,000 Palestinians in Gaza still displaced from 2014 war

July 7, 2017 - http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=777962

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) released a 
statement on Friday that highlighted the continuous devastation faced by 
residents of the besieged Gaza Strip three years after Israel’s 2014 
offensive, as thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have remained displaced 
in the coastal enclave.

The 51-day offensive in 2014 left more than 2,000 Palestinians dead, 
including at least 1,462 civilians, a third of whom were children, 
according to the United Nations.

“Of 11,000 homes totally destroyed during the war, a little over one 
third have been rebuilt,” NRC noted, adding that many of these families 
have continued to reside in tents since three years ago.
NRC said that 8,135 of those homes have not yet been reconstructed, and 
added that 160,000 additional homes were also damaged during the war.

Thaer al-Sheesh, a father of four in Gaza, told NRC that he has spent 
three years in a tent as he has continued to wait for his home to be 
rebuilt since the devastating war. “We are alive now because death 
hasn’t bothered to take us yet. It will be way better for us to die, as 
we won’t face problems anymore,” he said.

According to NRC, 6,300 Palestinian families -- 35,000 individuals -- in 
Gaza have remained displaced from the war.

Meanwhile, reconstruction efforts have been painfully slow -- hindered 
by Israel's blockade, ongoing disputes with the Fatah-dominated 
Palestinian Authority (PA), and a severe shortage of foreign assistance.

According to NRC, halfway into the 2017 year, only 30 percent of 
promised funding for reconstruction in Gaza has been covered, leaving a 
deficit of $380 million.

“Even if the necessary funding is made available immediately, we are 
still looking at another year of construction before the displaced 
families can return to their homes,” NRC’s Country Director in Jerusalem 
Hanibal Abiy Worku said in the statement.

The statement highlighted that humanitarian assistance has been greatly 
affected by Israel's decade-long siege on the Gaza Strip, especially 
owing to Israel's restrictions on building materials, despite certain 
quantities of cement being allowed to enter the small Palestinian 
territory since September 2014, when UN’s Middle East envoy announceda 
UN mechanism, referred to as the “Serry Plan," 
<http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=49249#.WIOe6VN94dW> to 
assist with reconstruction efforts.

According to NRC, 46 percent of the amount of cement needed for housing 
reconstruction in Gaza since 2014 is still needed.

On top of tens of thousands of Palestinians still reeling from the 
effects of the 2014 war, Israel has continued to keep two million 
Palestinians under a military siege, while the Hamas and Fatah rivalry 
has escalated in recent weeks and further contributed to the dire 
humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

After Israel cut Gaza’s electricity supply by up to 60 percent 
<https://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=777763>, upon the request of 
the PA, Egypt stepped in to provide fuel 
<https://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=777784> in order to avert a 
full collapse in the besieged territory.

However, Gaza has continued to suffer from a serious power shortage, 
only receiving a few hours of electricity a day, while repressive PA 
policies, such as cutting their Gaza-based employees’ salaries 
<http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=777805>, halting medical 
referrals <http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=777862> to patients 
in Gaza to receive medical treatment outside of the territory, and 
cutting its funding to Gaza’s medical sector 
<http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=777644> has further contributed 
to hardships in Gaza.

The PA has been the target of recent condemnation for intentionally 
exacerbating the difficulties of life for everyday residents in Gaza.

“All parties are encouraged to overcome differences, with the support of 
the international community,” NRC added in the statement. “As an 
immediate measure of addressing humanitarian needs, support should be 
provided for continuity of essential services in the sectors of shelter, 
health, water and sanitation.”

The UN has warned that the Gaza Strip would become uninhabitable for 
residents by 2020, pointing to the devastation of war and the crippling 
effects of Israel's blockade, while80 percent of Gaza’s population 
<https://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=772131>have become dependent 
on humanitarian assistance.
-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20170707/502d7424/attachment.htm>