Media coverage
Al Jazeera Net · 2014-09-16
The report describes the fears of thousands of displaced families in the Gaza Strip that reconstruction will be delayed after the latest war, amid continued border crossing closures and internal Palestinian divisions that threaten to obstruct pledges and necessary efforts. It cites positions from Fatah and Hamas, and includes economist Omar Shaban’s warning that relief aid could become a lasting substitute for reconstruction, entrenching a prolonged humanitarian crisis.
The report describes the fears of thousands of displaced families in the Gaza Strip that reconstruction will be delayed after the latest war, amid continued border crossing closures and internal Palestinian divisions that threaten to obstruct pledges and necessary efforts. It cites positions from F…
Young man Raed Salim appeared confused and anxious as he stood in front of a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip, where he had taken refuge with his family after Israel destroyed their home in its latest assault.
Salim’s family, along with about 300 other families, insists on remaining in the school until the Palestinian Authority pledges to rebuild their homes and provide alternative housing to protect them from the cold of winter and the heat of summer.
Raed says, “Fear of losing the opportunity for reconstruction, as happened in bitter experiences during previous Israeli attacks such as the 2009 and 2012 wars, dominates the minds of displaced families.”
He added in remarks to Al Jazeera Net that “the failure to take steps to begin rebuilding Gaza or prepare the ground for its launch, and the predominance of internal disputes over the administration of the Strip, have increased the fears of displaced families.”
## Rising fears
More than twenty thousand Gazan families without shelter are living in a state of frustration and fear that the scenario of delayed reconstruction will be repeated, amid the continued closure of the crossings and the internal Palestinian disputes that have caused Arab and donor states to abandon fulfillment of their pledges and commitments, limiting their role to the sphere of emergency relief.
Amin Maqbul, Secretary of the Revolutionary Council of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), shares the disaster-stricken families’ fear that the opportunity to rebuild Gaza will be lost because of Palestinian divisions.
Maqbul said in a phone call with Al Jazeera Net, “This matter has prompted Fatah’s Central Committee to form a committee for dialogue with Hamas to end the disputes, put a stop to transgressions, and enable the National Consensus Government to exercise its authority over the Gaza Strip and follow up on reconstruction affairs and address the issues and concerns of its citizens.”
But Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said, “The movement will not be a stumbling block before any party that wants to rebuild the Gaza Strip with integrity, sincerity, and transparency.”
Barhoum added to Al Jazeera Net that “the reconstruction file is the challenge facing the people, and it is what should be the concern of the President of the Palestinian Authority and the National Consensus Government, in addition to Egypt in its capacity as sponsor of the ceasefire agreement.”
He continued, saying, “It cannot be accepted that relief supplies be a substitute for reconstruction; reconstruction is a priority, just as relief supplies are.”
Al Jazeera Net tried to obtain the position of the National Consensus Government regarding people’s fears of delayed reconstruction, but its minister of public works residing in Gaza apologized more than once because of being busy, once because of illness, and finally because of travel in preparation for the reconstruction conference.
## Humanitarian crisis
For his part, Omar Shaban, Director of Pal Think for Strategic Studies and an economic expert, expressed his fears that the tragedy of homeowners whose houses were previously destroyed would be repeated, and that the provision of relief materials would become the rule while reconstruction would become the exception.
He added that “this scenario is terrifying because it concerns thousands of Palestinian families whose homes were destroyed, which will constitute a permanent humanitarian crisis resembling the crisis of the Palestinian refugee camps on the Syrian-Jordanian and Iraqi borders that has continued for years; the world has forgotten them and the people have remained exposed in the open.”
Shaban explained in remarks to Al Jazeera Net that many Western and Arab states have replaced their weak political will regarding pressure on the Israeli government to lift the siege on Gaza and allow reconstruction with addressing the symptoms of the problem by providing humanitarian, medical, or food aid as a stopgap to fill the vacuum resulting from the absence of political action.
He believed that the disputes between the two major Palestinian poles, Fatah and Hamas, will necessarily be reflected in the reconstruction file, noting that the issue of reconstruction under the current circumstances will once again be politicized in light of each party’s attempt to use reconstruction for its own benefit.
Shaban also expressed concern that the Palestinian Authority’s slowing of the reconstruction file is aimed at provoking people’s anger against Hamas.
Text © Al Jazeera Net — archived here with attribution to the source. — Machine translation for archival reference. — Original source