The de-rebuilding of the Gaza Strip

https://mondoweiss.net/2021/06/the-de-rebuilding-of-the-gaza-strip/

The reconstruction of Gaza will not meet the needs and aspirations of Palestinians without ending the Israeli blockade.

by Ihab Maharmeh     3 June 2021.     Mondoweiss

SVEN KÜHN VON BURGSDORFF, EUROPEAN UNION REPRESENTATIVE TO THE WEST BANK AND GAZA, IS GIVEN A TOUR OF THE RUINS OF AL-SHOUROQ TOWER, DESTROYED BY ISRAELI STRIKES DURING THE RECENT CONFRONTATIONS BETWEEN HAMAS AND ISRAEL, IN GAZA CITY ON JUNE 1, 2021. (PHOTO: ASHRAF AMRA/APA IMAGES)

Upon the announcement of the ceasefire in Gaza on May 20, 2021, U.S. Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken, spoke to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and stressed the commitment of the United States to work with the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations to provide rapid humanitarian assistance and mobilize international support to rebuild the Gaza Strip. He also affirmed the U.S. administration’s commitment to the principle of the two-state solution. Six days later, Blinken announced that the U.S. will provide more than $360 million in urgent humanitarian support for the Palestinian people.

While it appears the most recent escalation in Gaza has prompted U.S. President Joe Biden to place Palestine higher among his foreign policy priorities in the Middle East, it also seems the administration may be repeating efforts that have failed in fulfilling many similar promises following the last three wars on Gaza.

During the months following the first Israeli war on Gaza (2008/2009), international donors pledged $ 4.5 billion to support the Palestinian economy and to rebuild. In October 2014, after the 2012 and 2014 wars ended, international donors pledged to provide $ 5.4 billion to support the Palestinian economy and to rebuild. About $194 million of this amount was disbursed by September 2017. Palestinian and international officials have always warned of the slowdown in rebuilding due to the failure of donor countries to fulfill their financial obligations. In addition, the failure to rebuild coincided with the failure of U.S. political and diplomatic efforts to support the two-state solution. These began in September 2010 with direct negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis called for by U.S. President Barack Obama, and ended with the failure of Secretary of State John Kerry’s attempts in April 2014 due to Israel’s ongoing settlement in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Despite the rapid rush to mobilize international support for rebuilding and supporting the two-state solution after the end of each of the past three wars in Gaza, it appears however that there is something different in the way the international community is working on the Palestinian issue after the announcement of the recent ceasefire on Gaza. The intensity of regional and international mediation, especially from Egypt with U.S., to discuss ways of firming up the truce and bringing humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to Gaza does seem stronger than what followed the last three wars on Gaza.

This is not the first time that financial aid to Gaza has been said to fail to support and meet Palestinian needs and interests. Researchers such as Sultan Barakat have argued that the issue is due to the reluctance of international donors for the following reasons: 

1. Ending the wars with non-binding armistice agreements places the responsibility of rebuilding on the donor countries; 
2. The absence of a unified Palestinian strategy for rebuilding due to Palestinian division; 
3. International donors’ fear of Israel’s anger; 
4. International donors refusal to deal directly with civilian employees from Hamas; 
5. Finally, international donors’ attention has been sidetracked from Gaza due to the rise of major crises in the Arab region as a result of the wars in Syria, Yemen, Libya, Iraq and Sudan.

Since 2006, Gaza has been living in congested, crowded, and closed ghetto-like conditions making it subject to Israel’s conditions and security restrictions. This has significantly caused the rebuilding process to be hindered. Israeli conditionsrestricted the commitment of international donors to finance reconstruction programs. Gaza residents were restricted from having access to building materials needed for recovery and reconstruction. These conditions also gave Israel control over the quality of projects and the amount of financial resources allowed for reconstruction. For example, a report issued by the UNDP in 2017 stated that out of the $602 million allocated to revitalizing the productive sector – which is a small amount in comparison to the 1.8 billion allocated to relief projects – only $16 million was spent as a result of the impact of the Israeli conditions and their control over reconstruction.

This is the real dilemma. Without ending the Israeli blockade on Gaza and enabling Palestinians to control the border crossings, the reconstruction will not meet the needs and basic aspirations of the Palestinians even if the Palestinians form a unity government, as was the case in June 2014. It was the first Palestinian unity government since 2007 which was formed after consultations with all the Palestinian factions. The government was headed by Rami Hamdallah, a Palestinian academic and politician. The President of the Palestinian Authority said during his meeting with Blinken in Ramallah that he seeks to form a unity government that would be regionally and internationally supported.

After the end of the first and second wars on Gaza, the problem was understood. For this reason, and as part of overcoming the dilemma of the Israeli blockade on Gaza, the so-called Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM) was established after the third war in 2014. It was a multi-level mechanism in which the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority, and the United Nations participated. It aimed to strengthen the role of the Palestinians in reconstruction, to reassure international donors that their projects would be implemented in Gaza, and to address Israel’s security concerns. The mechanism guaranteed the Palestinian Authority’s participation in the reconstruction, gave international donors guarantees to implement their projects, and enabled Israel to impose its control over inspections, while monitoring and controlling any construction project or building materials entitled to be brought to Gaza. However, Hamas and its civilian employees were formally excludedfrom participating in the reconstruction mechanism, even though Hamas maintained its presence behind the scene due to its control over Gaza.

Meanwhile, international donors have repeatedly prioritized Israeli preferences over the worsening humanitarian crisis caused by the Israeli blockade of Gaza during the period from 2007 to 2021. As a result, the poverty rate jumped from 40% to 64%, and unemployment increased from 34.8% to more than 50%. It is therefore not surprising that 80% of Gaza’s population depends on international aid, more than 68% of Gaza’s population is food insecure, and more than 95% suffer from lack of access to clean water. In addition, they have problems with a shortage of medicines, medical supplies, and equipment.

For these reasons, it does not seem that regional and international mediation will succeed in breaching the Israeli conditions that hinder reconstruction. According to Israeli statements, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi told his counterpart Secretary of State Blinken, during the meeting held between both of them in Jerusalem on May 25, 2020, that the process of bringing materials for reconstruction will be conditional according to several conditions, including the establishment of a monitoring system over the entry of materials in cooperation with the United Nations “to ascertain where every dollar and bag of cement would go to.”

International donors are also insisting on similar mechanisms for dealing with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. According to statements of regional and international parties after the ceasefire, notably, the US administration, the focus is now on delivering emergency aid to Gaza, and working on reconstruction in coordination with the Palestinian Authority and not with Hamas government. The stated goal of this support is leading to the start of the negotiations between the Palestinian and the Israeli parties to reach a two-state solution, provided that this does not negate the firm commitment of the United States to the security of Israel. 

The people of Gaza are caught in the trap. From one side, preliminary estimates indicate that the recent destruction in Gaza has led to an exacerbation of the humanitarian crisis, as nearly 17,000 housing and commercial units were totally or partially damaged, including 50 educational and 20 health facilities. 50% of the water and energy infrastructure was damaged as well, and access to electricity declined from 12 to 5 hours a day. The attack also led to the displacement of more than 75,000 Palestinians, 28,700 of whom sought refuge in UNRWA schools.

On the other side, by insisting on replicating the same failed reconstruction mechanisms without ending the Israeli blockade on Gaza or enabling Palestinians to control the border crossings, international donors are guaranteeing that Israel will ultimately control any construction project or building materials that enter Gaza. This policy will ensure the failed reconstruction in Gaza. 

For these reasons, the Palestinian response to regional and international mediators and donors, including the Palestinian Authority, must focus on ending the Israeli blockade on Gaza and ending Israel’s control over the reconstruction process. Pressure on international donors to fulfill their promises and allow the Palestinians to manage the reconstruction process are essential, but without ending the siege of Gaza, no reconstruction process will be successful.

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