PALESTINE today - tomorrow

As the situation between Hamas and Fateh worsens in Gaza the Israelis do not let up

Kristen Ess, PNN







July 27, 2008



Amjad Al Shawa lives in what is often described as the "world’s largest open air prison." He is the Director of the Gaza City branch of the Palestine Network of NGOs. The PNGO attempts to serve the Strip’s 1.5 million residents.



"I think you have a good description for Gaza and the worsening conditions since the Israeli siege. Since January until now we are suffering from shortages of many items, the main being basic food, medicine and fuel. So the conditions here in Gaza are getting worse and worse even though we have the 'cease-fire’ between Hamas and the Israelis, still the Israelis continue the siege on the Gaza Strip. They prevent the entrance of many kinds of basic materials.



" Mainly I’m talking about the issue of fuel of which we are receiving just small quantities. For example yesterday the Israelis decided to prevent the entrance of fuel for three days, starting yesterday [16 July]. Now many cars are stopped in the streets because of the quantities that have been entering are not enough at all to operate the cars in the Gaza Strip. Our cars are receiving about 10 liters of benzene weekly. So that’s enough to operate our cars for two days and then the rest of the time we have to stop our cars. And this affects the work of many of the NGOs and institutions that are working in the fields of health and relief. The affects of the fuel crisis are reflected in the humanitarian conditions.



"The water supply is operating on fuel and the electricity. Also the quantities of the industrial gasoline that are entering Gaza are very small quantities. So we have electricity cuts daily for a few hours because of that. And this, again, is reflected in the issue of sewage, the issue of water, the issue of hospitals which are in need of fuel to operate. So the conditions are, of course, very bad, and again and again, the main problem that we have, one of the main problems that we have, is the Rafah Crossing closure: closing the Rafah Crossing with Egypt which is the main crossing with the outside world for the Gazans, for 1.5 million Palestinians, one million five hundred thousand Palestinians. Still the patients in Gaza have no access to the outside, just through Erez, Erez Crossing with Israel which just lets a few hundred patients to get out of Gaza: I’m talking about cancer patients, heart attack patients, and we’re talking about 210 [number reached 218 by Monday after interviewing Al Shawa on Thursday] patients who died suffering from shortage of medications. And they have no access; they lost access to outside to the outside. There are no permits from the Israelis to be treated outside the Gaza Strip at the Israeli or Arab hospitals. The suffering of the children, the women, and the men who are patients in bad need to treatment is great.



"And not to forget that we live in Gaza where it’s summer now: humid, hot conditions; living in this weather is a killer without electricity, and sometimes without water. I know many places in Gaza where for five or six days they have no water because of the problem of fuel. And the shortage of water and the quality of water; we have a big problem because of the chlorine needed to treat the water we are in bad need of; we have a shortage of that.



"So the life here is very bad although there is a 'cease-fire’ because Israel didn’t respect the 'cease-fire’ and still continue violating the agreement to a 'cease-fire’ between Hamas and Israel. And just to remember, three people were killed last week by Israel, one of them from Gaza, a young man around 17 or 18 years old was killed. About 13 people were injured although the 'cease-fire’ had been claimed. And so I think, again and again, although we have this very difficult situation, we have the hope that the international community will wake up, not just talk, but instead intervene. We need them to intervene, to pressure Israel to lift the siege, to end the siege on the Gaza Strip and to let the Palestinians have free lives, free access to the outside.



"We cannot even get enough cement imported to rebuild what the Israelis have destroyed."



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