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ISTOÉ (Brazil, AFP) · 2021-05-24
An AFP report in Portuguese on Gaza’s factories destroyed in the May 2021 war. Asked whether Gaza’s economy can be revived while excluding Hamas, Omar Shaban, director of Pal-Think, answers “no”.
24/05/21 - 12:28 p.m. In Newsletter
Updated on 24/05/21 - 1:41 p.m.
Nothing remained of the Sawafiri brothers’ furniture factory except melted and twisted metal and the dust of burned wood. And yet, it is with factories like theirs that Gaza awaits its economic rebirth.
On Thursday, on the eve of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the movement in power in the Palestinian enclave, Israeli artillery targeted the Gaza City industrial zone.
It is from there that the Coca-Cola consumed in the enclave comes, the sweet biscuits served with tea, the pipes for plumbing, and also “made in Gaza” furniture, a little-known label for export.
There, some buildings remained intact, but others were damaged, or even destroyed, in the bombardment.
Iyad Sawafiri, 45, wearing black jeans, a blue shirt and a pen hanging from a button, walks through the ruins of his factory, which employed 70 workers. His brother Nehad refuses, for now, to see the damage, traumatized by the destruction of the company.
“We thought that by installing our factory in this international industrial zone, located near the UNRWA warehouses (the UN agency for Palestinian refugees), we would be spared from wars,” he told AFP, showing the burned wood.
“We were Gaza’s largest furniture factory, but everything melted: the machines, the metal structures supporting the factory. After what just happened, I am afraid to rebuild. Who can guarantee me that it will not be destroyed in the next war?” he asks.
Under Israeli blockade for nearly 15 years, this enclave of two million inhabitants, where the unemployment rate hovers around 50%, looks like an economic time bomb.
The Hamas authorities do not control their land or sea borders, and exports and imports must obtain Israel’s permission.
And the list of materials that may enter Gaza is giving the Israeli army a headache, as it accuses Hamas of manufacturing part of its rocket arsenal “in situ,” recycling metal or diverting pipes.
Hence the insistence that projects financed by foreign donors use PVC pipes.
On the last day of the war, the largest plastic factory, Siksik, located about 100 meters from the Sawafiri brothers’ factory, was also targeted in Israeli attacks.
“When Israel blocked the entry of some iron pipes into Gaza, we decided to start producing plastic pipes. But about 150 tons of plastic were burned,” said Naim al-Siksik, head of the family factory, standing in front of the charred pipes.
At the time of Gaza’s reconstruction, foreign donors are also working more broadly on the development of the territory.
In Gaza, only 3% of drinking water meets international standards, mainly because of pressure on the aquifer. And the only thermal power plant covers only 50% of the population’s demand.
– “Hamas everywhere” –
But to revive the economy and avoid further destruction, the “roots” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be addressed, UN officials warned on Sunday.
US President Joe Biden announced his intention to put in place “major” financial aid to “rebuild Gaza,” but without giving Hamas “the opportunity to rebuild its weapons system.”
In 2018, after yet another Israel/Hamas truce, a roadmap provided for the financing of infrastructure in Gaza, monthly aid via Qatar, and a search for jobs for Gaza’s inhabitants. This process did not include Western donors and is stalled.
Is it possible to revive Gaza’s economy while excluding Hamas, classified as “terrorist” by the United States and the European Union? For Omar Shaban, director of the Pal Think Institute, a think tank in Gaza, the answer is “no.”
“Does the international community want to end this cycle of destruction, or not? Does it want to return to short-term solutions that have not worked for 15 years, excluding Hamas? The only option is to integrate it, and that has nothing to do with whether you like it or not,” he told AFP.
“Gaza is under Hamas control, so how can you build Gaza without Hamas? How is that possible? Hamas is everywhere, it runs municipalities, water, electricity. Hamas is a reality that you cannot ignore,” he adds.
Text © ISTOÉ (Brazil, AFP) — archived here with attribution to the source. — Machine translation for archival reference. — Original source