Gaza Report 2012
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Transcript of Gaza Report 2012
Gaza Report March 2012 1
The borders of the Gaza Strip were
drawn by the United Nations with
the 1949 Ceasefire Agreement that
was signed after the 1948 Arab-Israel
War. The region, remained under the Egyptian
control until the 1967 War, came under direct
Israeli occupation just after the following
border changes at the same year. As per the
Oslo Accords signed in 1993, Israel agreed to
an independent Palestinian state that also
included Gaza at latest by 1999; however, it only
withdrew from the territory it occupied in 2005,
pursuing to shape the permanent status of the
region unilaterally. Despite partial improvement
of life after the withdrawal, illegal control of
Israel over Gaza remained in place and Israel
continued to de facto keep the region under
its control in almost every way. Today Gaza’s
all border gates, except for Rafah, territorial
waters and airspace are controlled by Israel.
In 2007, Israel imposed embargo on Gaza
after the people voted Hamas into power,
banned the entry of humanitarian supplies
into and their exit out of the region, struck
public offices, hospitals, schools and houses
arbitrarily, and is still carrying on this policy.
This report not only lists major milestones
in extent and consequences of the embargo
on Gaza since 2007 but also provides
impressions and findings of aid workers of
IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation that are
carrying regular relief efforts in the region and
an IHH team that visited the region in 2011.
Introduction
Gaza Report March 20122
PALESTINE
EGYPT
MED
ITERRANEA
N SEA
Rafah Crossing
point
Karni Crossing point
Sufa Crossing point
GAZA
Erez Crossing
point
Tal as-Sultan
Rafah
Ban-i Suheila
Al Qarara
Az Zawayda
Beit LahiyaBeit Hanoun
Fishing lim
it enfo
rced by Is
rael
Jabalia
Deyir al Balah
Khan Yunis
Abasan al Kabira
Kerem ShalomCrossing point
-
-
-
Located in Western Palestine near the
Egyptian border, Gaza has an area of 360
square-kilometers with a length of 41 km
and a width of between 6 to 12 km. The
region is controlled by the Palestinian
National Authority. It has a population
of 1,657,155 and about 1,105,000 Gaza
residents live in eight refugee camps
(Jabalia, Gaza, Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun, Dir
al-Balah, Khan Yunis, Rafah and Abasan
Kabir). Health, education and other
humanitarian needs of these refugees are
met by donations from the United Nations,
international aid agencies and Muslim
countries.
Where is Gaza?
The International Committee of
the Red Cross-(ICRC) described in a
statement on 14 June 2010 the impact
of the embargo on Gaza and its
1.5m inhabitants as “unbearable and
devastating” and “collective punishment
that clearly violates Israel’s obligations
as per international humanitarian law”,
pointing to the removal of the blockade
as the only lasting solution to the crisis.
UN Human Rights council Fact-
finding Mission Report (Article
38), September 27, 2010
Gaza Report March 2012 3
After Hamas garnered big gains in Gaza in the 2006
Palestinian elections and came to power in 2007, Israel,
contradictory to rules of international law, started
imposing political and economic restrictions to punish
the Gaza people for their preference in the elections.
Israel declared the Gaza Strip “enemy entity” and
announced it would restrict goods entering and leaving
Gaza to put pressure on Hamas under the pretext of
“terror.” The illegal embargo that was imposed by Israel
and its allies around the world turned Gaza into an
open-air prison where problems in education, health,
economy and security became widespread.
In mid-2007, continuous Israeli operations in Gaza and
internal provocations brought about a serious fighting
between Hamas and Fatah, the two powerful political
groups in Gaza. Over 200 Palestinians were killed in the
clashes. Hamas, which is legally at power in Gaza as the
winner of the elections, came under political and economic
pressure of international community. The embargo shut
border gates of Gaza to the world one by one. The people
of Gaza were cut off from the rest of the world.
On 27 December 2008, Israel launched Cast Lead
Operation and hit the Gaza people it had subjected
to a deadly embargo for 22 days. In the operation
Israeli military used white phosphorus, a weapon of
mass destruction that is banned to be used on civilian
population. In the air and land strikes that lasted until 17
January 2009 Israel massacred 1500 civilians, more than
half of them children. The strikes wounded over 5000
people, destroyed more than 4000 buildings, damaged
another 200,000 and left 50,000 inhabitants homeless.
Hospitals, mosques, schools, factories, business centers
an even UN offices were leveled. The Islamic University
of Gaza, the only higher education institution in the
region, was also hit. Twenty-nine ambulances and 122
health clinics were hit. Rescue and treatment efforts
were impeded. About 280 schools were damaged;
9000 students who were affected in the strikes
were evacuated; 164 students and 12 teachers were
killed; 454 students and five teachers were wounded.
Education halted and all schools were closed during
the strikes. Furthermore, 1500 workshops/factories,
31 security facilities and 20 mosques were destroyed.
About 400,000 Gaza residents were cut off from
clean drinking supply. Greenhouses, olive groves and
croplands suffered huge damage. More than 60 percent
of farmland in Northern Gaza was damaged extensively.
A people punished
for their electoral
preferences
The fact that Israel used disproportionate and
systematic force, Dense Inert Metal Explosives and
phosphorus, weapons of mass destruction that
have not been restricted with a global convention
yet, was established in the Goldstone Report by a
UN Human Rights Council fact-finding mission.
Gaza Report March 20124
Israel, which imposed a heavy embargo on Gaza when
Hamas became the de facto ruler of the region in
2007, is controlling four out of the five border gates in
Gaza. It sometimes keeps the crossings shut for weeks
and even months and prevents basic necessities,
medical materials and humanitarian supplies entering
and leaving the territory.
Border crossings
1. Rafah crossing Gate: It is controlled by Egypt. Daily
300 Gaza residents are allowed to cross into Egypt
though this gate. Entry of goods and people into
Gaza, on the other hand, is problematic. Those
lacking a Palestinian identification issued by the
Ramallah administration are not allowed into
Gaza. People who request permit to leave Gaza
are made to wait for months, which sometimes
results in deaths of patients in need of treatment
and loss of employment for workers and dismissal
of students.
2. Erez crossing Gate: The border gate that is the
main crossing for Gaza residents who make a
living by working in Israel has been closed to
Palestinians since 2007.
3. Karni crossing Gate: The crossing was used for
entry of commercial goods into Gaza. Frequently
closed before 2007, the crossing was shut
permanently when Hamas came to power in 2007.
4. Sufa crossing Gate: Used for entry of construction
materials into Gaza, the crossing has been mostly
closed since 2007.
5. Kerem Shalom crossing Gate: Used for entry of
commercial goods and humanitarian supplies, the
crossing has been mostly closed since 2007.
The embargo on Gaza
The mission draws attention to the illegality of
subjecting civilians in occupied territories to
collective punishment as per the Article 33 of the
Geneva Convention: “No protected person may be
punished for an offense he or she has not personally
committed. Collective penalties and likewise
all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are
prohibited.” The mission is of the opinion that one
of the reasons behind the blockade on Gaza is the
punishment of the Gaza people for voting Hamas.
Together with restrictions imposed on Gaza, Israel’s
actions and policies undoubtedly amount to what is
defined in international law as “collective penalty.”
UN Human Rights Council Fact-finding Mission
Report (Article 54), September 27, 2010
Gaza Report March 2012 5
Damage Gaza
suffered under
embargoThe embargo imposed on Gaza has deprived the local
population of their economic, health, educational and
many other rights. The use of disproportionate force by
Israel has caused serious damage both to people and the
environment.
There are five border gates in Gaza such as Erez, Karni,
Sufa, Kerem Shalom and Rafah. However, food items, fuel,
medical supplies and other humanitarian materials have
been prevented by Israel since 2007 from entering and
leaving the region through these gates. Gaza residents
are living in poverty and destitution and are trying to
provide their basic necessities thought tunnels dug near
Rafah border gate.
The mission’s description of the situation in Gaza
as deplorable is shared by others. The situation
in Gaza has been described as “unsustainable.”
It is impossible in the 21st century to regard this
situation as tolerable and acceptable. It is baffling
for anyone to view living standards of the Gaza
people as acceptable.
UN Human Rights Council Fact-finding Mission
Report (Article 275), September 27, 2010
Gaza Report March 20126
A. Economy
● Gaza, where people earn their income mostly from
farming, small-size manufacturing and fishing, is
failing even to reach the manufacturing rates of 15
years ago because of systematic policy of deliberate
impoverishment.
● Many Gaza inhabitants are facing the hardship to find
food or to earn the money to buy food.
● Israel has declared the waters three miles off the
coast of Gaza and further as “forbidden zone” and
thereby preventing Palestinians from using 85 % of
their territorial waters. The families making a living
from fishing are immensely affected by the naval
blockade.
● About 95% industrial enterprises in Gaza have shut
down, while the remaining 5% works with 20 to 50%
capacity.
● Unemployment rate is over 45%.
● Gaza inhabitants are forced to live on less than two
dollars a day.
● Since 180,000 civil servants, 210,000 workers and 80
% of free-lancers have lost employment since 2007,
the purchasing power of people has plummeted
and the prices of durable goods has surged due to
restrictions on entry of such goods into the region.
● Israel laid off 21,000 Palestinians working in Israel
in 2005 and caused an economic loss of over $1m.
In addition, Israel sometimes keeps border gates
shut for months. Gaza residents who daily cross
into Israel for their jobs cannot work when gates are
closed and families of these workers are put at the
risk of hunger.
B. Energy
● Since October 2007, strict restrictions have been
imposed on fuel supply and delivery of electricity and
fuel has been largely limited.
● In Gaza, which has only one power station that works
with 30% capacity, daily power cuts of between eight
and 12 hours are experienced. Hospitals, businesses
and households are negatively affected by energy
shortages.
● Public services such as power and water deliveries
have to depend on UPS devices and generators;
however, the lack of spare parts of these devices
makes them unreliable.
C. Water
● In Gaza, where public services are disrupted
because of the embargo, daily about 80 million liter
Gaza Report March 2012 7
sewer water is let flow into nature without being
processed. Combined with growing number of
health problems caused by pollution of sea water,
the contamination of surface and underground
waters by sewer has left only 5-10% of the water in
the region potable.
● Around 26% of the population is suffering from
waterborne diseases.
D. Health
● Power cuts, shortages of clean drinking water, lack of
spare machinery parts and many other factors make
it difficult it to keep medical equipment running and
well-maintained.
● Patients needing emergency medical treatment
are dying because they are not allowed to leave
the region. Getting a permit to leave Gaza for
medical treatment is tied to a long and tedious
procedure.
● Restrictions on leaving the region have prevented
medical staff from improving their vocational
knowledge and training outside.
● Power cuts are threatening the lives of patients in
need of permanent treatment such as dialysis and
cancer patients.
● Patients are at the risk of death since the entry of
medicines and medical tools and equipment into the
region is restricted.
● Strikes on Gaza not only cause material damage
but also have a devastating impact on people’s
psychology. Almost 90% of local children are
suffering from post-trauma stress disorder.
E. Security and arbitrary actions
● Israel claims it is threatened by short-range missiles
Hamas possess while it is in possession of nuclear
arsenal and frequently strikes Gaza under this
pretext.
● The Hamas government has been particularly
avoiding since early 2006 provocative actions
against Israel. However, Israel has continued
bombardments and detentions. It has exploited the
tension in the region as a tool to prove to the world
its security concerns.
● Israeli troops are arbitrarily firing on civilians, causing
deaths and injuries.
● Israel has arbitrarily detained and jailed more than
10,000 Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank.
Gaza Report March 20128
F. Strikes
● Israeli artillery units fired over 6000 rounds of
artillery into northern Gaza in a nine-month long
operation in September 2005 and caused a lasting
damage to the region, even killing children having a
picnic on the beach.
● The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs-OCHA stated that Israel expanded
restrictions on Gaza fishermen ahead of the 2008
Cast Lead Operation. The Palestinian fishermen
entering restricted area come under warning
shots of Israeli Navy and in some cases are directly
assaulted. Israeli troops confiscate fishing boats it
seizes in raids.
● Israel, which has committed since the day it occupied
the region arbitrarily moving tanks on civilians,
shooting at them, willfully injuring, damaging houses
Gaza Report March 2012 9
and farmland, massacred 1400 civilians in the Cast Lead
Operation between 27 December 2008 and 17 January
2009. The number later rose to 1500 with deaths
occurring from severe injuries.
● Between 28 September 2000 and January 2011, 5081
Palestinians lost their lives due to attacks by Jewish
settlers, Israeli bombardments and restrictions on
treatment of Palestinian patients.
G. Restrictions and attacks on
humanitarian workers
● A land convoy named Viva Palestina was organized
to deliver relief aid to Gaza in 2009. The convoy
included 200 vehicles, medical supplies and
humanitarian materials. After a long wait because
of Egypt’s blocking, the convoy crossed into Gaza
through Rafah border gate. The vehicles and
humanitarian supplies in the convoy were donated to
the Gaza people.
● On 31 May 2010, Israel attacked the Freedom Flotilla
that was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza through
international waters and killed nine aid volunteers
and wounded another 56. In a statement issued in the
wake of the attack, the UN Security Council described
the situation in Gaza as “unsustainable.”
H. Humanitarian situation
● The humanitarian crisis in Gaza that is caused by the
embargo put in place in 2007 has reached worrying
levels. International community and the UN Security
Council have submitted their concerns in various
reports to decision-making bodies and urged urgent
action to resolve the problem.
● The embargo has caused widespread poverty among
the Gaza population and the dependency on external
aid has reached 80%.
● About 54% of Gaza inhabitants have no access to
food, while 12% have difficulties in accessing food.
● The number of refugees in “extreme poverty” was
100,000 at the time the embargo was imposed, while
this number has reached 300,000 as of today.
● In Gaza, 61% of the population is at the threat of
hunger.
● Due to forced changes in eating habits, disorders tied
to vitamin and minerals deficiency have been found
particularly among children.
● Around 86,000 homes that were damaged in Israeli
strikes have to be rebuilt.
● There are 25,000 orphan children in Gaza.
● Out of 1,657,155 Gaza inhabitants 1,105,000 are living
in refugee camps.
Gaza Report March 201210
● The embargo on Gaza should be lifted immediately
and unconditionally.
● Food security of the local people should be
ensured.
● Political and military restrictions on the delivery of
assistance to the region and aid to Gaza should be
increased systematically.
● Arbitrary obstacles to entry into and exit from Gaza
should be removed.
● To put an end to Israeli attacks, the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation, Arab League, the UN as well as
all Muslim countries should take a decision to act
together.
● To revive economy of Gaza, the people should be
offered employment opportunities and to this end
Israeli obstacles should done away with.
● International guarantee should be put in place to
let Palestinian products reach global markets and
countries should urge quotas for the importation of
Palestinian products.
● Investment in the energy sector of Palestine should
be encouraged to lower its dependency on Israel
and an international mechanism should be set up
to protect investments and investors.
● Efforts to found an Independent Palestinian State
should be stepped up.
● Civil servants and workers in Gaza should be given
their jobs back unless if Israel refuses to take action
on this matter. Their payments should be made
from an international fund to be set up until an
independent Palestinian state is founded.
● A safe aid corridor should be opened to deliver
humanitarian supplies to the region.
Suggestions for solutionThe embargo on Gaza should be lifted entirely to put an end to the ongoing humanitarian crisis. In this regard, we can
list a number of suggestions that can be used to end the Gaza crisis:
Gaza Report March 2012 11
Relief efforts of IHH Humanitarian Relief
Foundation in Gaza
IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation has been closely
following developments about the Palestinian question
and offering support for a solution. IHH not only delivers
humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in the occupied
territories but also exerts utmost effort to advocate the
rights of Palestinians in the field of human rights.
It, furthermore, offers help to Palestinians refugees in
Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and elsewhere around the world.
The following are some of the relief efforts carried out
since 2009 in the Gaza Strip:
A. Cash-aid in-kind and periodic help
● In Gaza, 2533 orphans were cared for in 2009 as part
of the “Sponsor Family System,” while the number
reached 9731 as of March 2012.
● IHH has been performing sacrificial slaughters and
distributing the meat to the needy in Gaza every
Qurban season since the day it was established.
● Every year at Ramadan month food packages and hot
meals are distributed in Gaza.
● Every year needy students at state schools are
provided with books, stationery sets and bags. And
every semester aid supplies worth €30,000 are
distributed.
● Orphans children are clothed every year and Qurban
and Ramadan seasons.
● Cash assistance of €2000 were given to 1000
families whose homes were destroyed in Israeli
strikes.
● Each of the 1300 martyr families were donated
€1000 cash-aid.
● For one year 1250 food packages, each worth €40,
were distributed in Gaza.
● Psychological support and rehabilitation sessions
were held at 70 state schools in cooperation with
Gaza Education Ministry following the Cast Lead
Operation. The cost of the program that included
20,000 students was €25,000.
● Search-recue works were carried out in Gaza’s al-
Mugraga area after the 2010 flooding disaster and hot
meals were provided to the families who could return
to their homes for safety reasons and the affected
people were also offered cash assistance. The total
amount of the assistance realized at €55,000.
● Thirty couples were helped get married in Gaza in
2010. The total cost of the project was €30,000.
Gaza Report March 201212
● In cooperation with Gaza Ministry of Health 600
people in different parts of Gaza were offered training
in first aid for two months. The cost of the program
was €20,000.
● A six-month psychological support and rehabilitation
program was organized for 1200 students in three
areas of Gaza. The program cost was €35,000.
● In Beit Lahia, 100 families were provided mushrooms
to grow and training on how to cultivate mushroom.
The program cost was €13,000.
● Ten families were given three pairs of rabbits each,
cages and six-month feed for the rabbits. The project
cost €600 per family.
● A six-month training course on how to make
bakery products was offered to 300 women. The
participants contributed to their family income by
selling the products they made during the training.
The total cost of the training was €23,000.
B. Works in education, health and
housing fields
Education
● Maintenance, renovation and furnishing jobs of Dar
al-Erkam Turkey-Palestine Primary School, which has
750 students, were completed. The classrooms were
equipped with LCD projectors and a 60-computer
technology laboratory was set up.
● Education at the school where almost half of
the students are children of the killed or jailed
Palestinians is free.
● Sewing training courses were offered for women
in Rafah, Khan Younis, Tel al-Islam, Naseer area and
Jabalia. Every three months 200 people graduate
from these courses. The courses have had 2400
students in the last three years. Annual expenses of
one training course are €20,000.
● Three computer centers were set up in Rafah, Tel
al-Islam and Jabalia for children of killed or jailed
Palestinians. Children of poor families can also use
the centers. The annual expenses of the centers are
€60,000.
● Laboratory and computer buildings of the Islamic
University of Gaza, which were destroyed in Israeli
strikes, were rebuilt and the conference hall was
repaired. The project cost €720,000.
● Gaza Technology University, which was damaged in
the 2009 Furkan War, was repaired. The project cost
€30,000.
● Computer, English, management and business
administration classes are offered at Osmanlı Cultural
Center inside IHH Office in Gaza. Each year 250
students graduate from these trainings. The project
cost is €20,000.
Gaza Report March 2012 13
● In Rafah, each year 240 children attend training on how
to memorize the Quran. The project cost is €20,000.
Health
● IHH, which has been providing since it was founded
medications and medical materials to Palestinians
in need, brought in the wake of the Furqan War, 59
wounded Palestinians who could not be treated at
Gaza hospitals to Turkey for treatment.
● A lithotripter machine that was taken to Rafah-
Gaza with a land convoy in 2010 was set up at
Jamiyat al-Islam Health Center. The project cost was
approximately $60,000.
● The furnishing of a Maternity Hospital, which was
constructed by Beit Hanoun Municipality, was
undertaken and the hospital was opened. The project
cost €500,000.
● Ultrasound, endoscopy machine, various
consumables as well as medicines were taken to al-
Huda Health Clinic in Tel al-Islam with a land convoy
in 2010. The other health centers in the region were
also provided with various medical materials.
● As part of the Sponsor Family System, 10,500
orphan children are cared for as of 2011. Educational
assistance and health screenings are offered to these
orphans. The project cost is €3,696,396 (TL 8,820,000).
Housing
● Three-storey buildings with six flat were constructed
for six families whose houses at Gaza border area were
destroyed in Israeli strikes. The project cost €130,000.
● Rebuilding is in progress for houses that were
destroyed in the Furqan War in Karame, Huzaa (50
houses were leveled in Huzaa only) and Nuseirat areas.
Three of the houses were completed and handed to
families in November 2011. The total cost of the project
is €160,000.
● In Karame, Huzaa and Nuseirat areas, houses of families
in need were repaired and ten new houses were
built for the families. The houses were named after
the activists who were killed in the Israeli raid on the
Freedom Flotilla while taking humanitarian aid to Gaza
in 2010. The project cost is €75,000.
● Gaza Port, which has been heavily damaged in Israeli
strikes, was repaired for the docking of ships in the
Freedom Flotilla. Deepening, coast repair and road-
building jobs were completed in three months. The
project cost was €100,000.
Gaza Report March 201214
Palestinians, who have been living under occupation
since 1948, demand peace and quiet. However,
living conditions of Palestinians who have been
squeezed into the West Bank and Gaza Strip and
whose right to life, work and free movement has
been usurped became unbearable in the wake of
the 2006 elections in Gaza. Israel declared Gaza
as “enemy entity” in 2006 when Hamas came to
power and started imposing an embargo on the
region. It restricted goods and products entering
and leaving Gaza and reduced fuel supplies. It set
up checkpoints in different parts of Gaza to prevent
Palestinians from leaving their own land. It put in
place a policy that almost paralyzed movement
of goods and people with checkpoints it set up
at Erez, Karni, Sufa, and Kerem Shalom. Although
governments around the world are overlooking
the illegal embargo on Gaza with realpolitik
concerns, a number of national and international
civil society organizations brought the inhumane
situation in Gaza to the attention of the world with
humanitarian aid initiatives they organized.
IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, which has
been exerting efforts since it was founded to help
reinstate usurped Palestinian rights and delivering
humanitarian relief to the region, took part in two
massive organizations to end the embargo. It was
part of the Viva Palestina land convoy that crossed
into Gaza with 200 vehicles through Rafah border
crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border and donated
the vehicles to the local people. IHH was also
one of the biggest organizers of the international
Gaza Freedom Flotilla in May 2010. The flotilla
that set out to take relief aid to Gaza from sea
came under the attack of Israeli armed forces on
31 May while sailing in international waters in the
Mediterranean. The raid on the Freedom Flotilla
that aimed to draw global attention to the embargo
on Gaza killed nine aid volunteers and wounded
56. All the activists on the flotilla were detained
and jailed. Uğur Süleyman Söylemez, one of the
activists wounded in the attack, is still in coma.
The Gaza embargo and rights violations against
Palestinians moved upward on the global agenda
following the attack on the flotilla and the illegality
of the embargo was reiterated by governments
and leading global civil society organizations.
The embargo that has created numerous
problems for Palestinians in Gaza in education,
health, economic and security areas has turned
the region into an open-air prison. The Gaza
people who have been subjected to inhumane
conditions caused by the embargo are still hoping
for a helping hand to be extended to them.
Conclusion
Gaza Report March 2012 15
Sources1. European Union Border Assistance Mission in Rafah, http://www.eubam-rafah.
eunode/351; http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/2010/Illegal%20Closur.pdf
2. ORSAM (Middle East Strategic Studies Center), Gaza Question: Israeli blockade,
international law, Palmer Report and Turkey’s approach, Report no: 71, September 2011
3. World Food Programme Report, http://reliefweb.int/sites/ reliefweb.int/files/resources/
Full_Report_1389.pdf
4. UN Human Rights Council fact-finding Mission Report, 27 September 2010,
5. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/middleeast/03/v3_israel_palestinians/maps/
html/population_settlements.stm
6. http://hopeandplay.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=76%3
Acampaign-to-wake-up-the-british-parliament&catid=15%3Aoccupied-
palestineterritories fundraising-events&Itemid=51
7. Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations, http://www.alzaytouna.net/
arabic/?c=1523&a=137069 http://www.hukuk.gazi.edu.tr/editor/dergi/12_41.pdf