A report by Christian Aid and 15 other international agencies says that, one year on from Operation Cast Lead, the international community has betrayed the people of Gaza by failing to back their words with effective action to secure the ending of the Israeli blockade which is preventing reconstruction and recovery.
Download Failing Gaza: no rebuilding, no recovery, no more excuses now.
No rebuilding
More than one year since the military offensive on Gaza, the Israeli authorities have allowed only 41 truckloads of construction materials into Gaza.
The task of rebuilding and repairing thousands of homes alone will require thousands of truckloads of building materials.
Little of the extensive damage the offensive caused to homes, civilian infrastructure, public services, farms and businesses has been repaired.
This is because the civilian population, and the UN and aid agencies who help them, are prohibited from importing materials like cement and glass in all but a handful of cases, says the report.
Power cuts and water contamination
The blockade has also led to frequent power, gas and water shortages, seriously affecting daily life and public health.
90% of people in Gaza suffer power cuts of four to eight hours a day.
Power cuts also cause daily interruptions to water supply, as does the inability to repair water pipes, roof top water tanks and household connectors, because materials and spare parts are not deemed essential humanitarian supplies by Israel and so are prevented entry under the blockade.
And with the loss of pressure in the pipes, polluted water from the ground contaminates the supply.
Together with chronic disrepair to the sewage system, poor water quality is a major concern for aid agencies in Gaza, with diarrhoea causing 12 % of young deaths.
Poverty
The blockade, which began in June 2007 after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip, has sharply increased poverty, helping make eight out of ten people dependent on some form of aid.
Businesses and farms have been forced to close and lay off workers.
An almost complete ban on exports has hit farmers hard, compounded by the offensive which wrecked 17% of farmland together with greenhouses and irrigation equipment, and left a further 30% unusable in no-go ‘buffer zones’ expanded by the Israeli military after the end of the offensive.
Lift the blockade
Our report argues that, while Israel has a duty to protect its citizens, the measures it takes must conform to international humanitarian and human rights law. By enforcing its blockade on Gaza, Israel is violating the prohibition on collective punishment in international humanitarian law.
Christian Aid and our co-agencies call on Israel to end the blockade. But the international community can and must do far more to end this illegal and inhumane situation.
We call on European foreign ministers and the EU’s new high representative for foreign affairs, Catherine Ashton, to visit Gaza to see for themselves the impact of the blockade on its people.
No more excuses
Janet Symes, head of Middle East region at Christian Aid, says: 'Expressions of disapproval over the blockade of Gaza by the international community are no longer enough.
'It is time to allow the people of Gaza to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives and rebuild. There must be no more excuses from the international community.'
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