Media coverage
Al Jazeera Net · 2004-10-03
Palestinian Minister of Public Works and Housing Abdel Rahman Hamad acknowledged that the Palestinian Authority is unable to provide suitable public land for housing projects for displaced families in Rafah, citing the high cost of reconstruction and encroachments on state land amid insecurity and lack of law enforcement. Losses caused by Israeli shelling, bulldozing, and incursions since the start of the Intifada through the end of May were estimated at $397.69 million, including $226 million for rebuilding destroyed homes and repairing damaged ones, while Rafah suffered the broadest destruction campaign over the past 48 months. Participants at a conference in Gaza also discussed poor coordination and lack of oversight of aid, as well as Rafah’s severe health crisis and the need to expand medical and relief services.
Palestinian Minister of Public Works and Housing Abdel Rahman Hamad acknowledged that the Palestinian Authority is unable to provide suitable public land for housing projects for displaced families in Rafah, citing the high cost of reconstruction and encroachments on state land amid insecurity and…
Palestinian Minister of Public Works and Housing Abdel Rahman Hamad acknowledged the Palestinian Authority’s inability to provide suitable government land for establishing housing projects for displaced families in Rafah.
In a speech before a conference held in Gaza to discuss the effects of the Israeli incursions, attended by a large number of officials and economic experts, he stressed that the reconstruction of these areas—especially the city of Rafah—requires massive financial investments beyond the economic capacity of the Palestinian Authority.
He pointed out that, under the prevailing security situation and in the absence of the rule of law, the Authority has been unable to provide suitable government land for these projects because of encroachments and seizure by some families.
He explained that the direct and indirect losses sustained by public facilities, utilities, and homes as a result of Israeli shelling, bulldozing, and incursions amounted to $397,690,000 from the start of the Intifada until the end of last May.
He estimated the cost of rebuilding homes completely destroyed and repairing houses partially damaged as a result of repeated Israeli incursions into Palestinian cities at $226 million.
He added that the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip had been subjected to the broadest Israeli destruction campaign among Palestinian cities over the past 48 months, estimating the losses resulting from the destruction of homes at about $60 million up to the beginning of last month.
The number of homes completely demolished reached 2,500, inhabited by around 4,000 families comprising more than 12,000 people, while about 6,500 homes were partially damaged.
## Lack of coordination
For his part, economic expert Omar Shaban Ismail reviewed the main problems hindering efforts to confront the consequences of the Israeli incursions into Palestinian cities, namely the lack of coordination among the institutions working to confront such aggression, and the absence of a sustainable developmental dimension in their relief programs due to their focus on meeting citizens’ immediate needs, in addition to the absence of governmental and societal oversight over the aid provided by donor agencies to relieve stricken areas.
Abdel Karim Ashour of the NGO Network called for civil society organizations to seek to influence the general policies of funding bodies in a manner consistent with Palestinian needs, and to work on establishing a permanent social solidarity fund financed through deductions from the salaries of Palestinian Authority employees in order to ensure the continued provision of emergency services in the event of Israeli attacks.
Regarding the role of the media in covering the incursion into al-Zaytoun neighborhood and Rafah in mid-May, media expert Talal Okal explained that “the media outlets that succeeded in covering the phases of the aggression did not complete their mission by following up on the effects of the crime, which are still continuing to this day,” and he proposed holding a conference for representatives of media outlets and civil society organizations to strengthen partnership and integration in their work.
## Health
With regard to the health situation, Imad Shaath, Deputy Mayor of Rafah, spoke about the acute health crisis experienced by the city, especially with the existence of only one hospital containing 50 beds and serving about 160,000 people.
He called on the Palestinian Authority to work on expanding Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital and to expedite the operation of Tel al-Sultan Hospital, especially in light of the repeated Israeli attacks on the city that leave dozens injured.
He criticized the Ministry of Local Government, as the body directly responsible for municipalities in Palestine, for failing to provide emergency services to the city of Rafah during the latest incursion into it in mid-May, while praising the role of UNRWA, which hastily established shelters for the displaced and provided them with essential needs, particularly since 90% of them are refugees registered with it.
_______________Al Jazeera Net correspondent
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