—Published in the New Statesman, Dec. 10, 2007
Traffic in the Gaza Strip slowed to a trickle last week, and this week medical centers have scaled back treatment in the medicines- and sustenance-destitute Strip.
"Israel’s decision is a death penalty: our reserve of fuel is almost zero and it may very likely run out by the end of today," said Khaled Radi, Ministry of Health spokesman for the dismissed Hamas government.
Radi spoke in reference to the November 30 Israeli Supreme Court decision to allow further fuel cutbacks, severe reductions which are crippling Gaza’s residents in all aspects of life. Prior to that ruling, as early as October Israel decided to begin limiting fuel, with Gaza soon after enduring serious cuts of over 50 percent of fuel needs, a dire statistic confirmed by the UN body OCHA.
At the Nahal Oz crossing, through which all fuel enters Gaza, the Palestinian petrol authority reported that Israel has delivered around only 190,000 litres of diesel a day since late October, falling short of the 350,000 litres needed by the Gaza Strip. This number plummeted on 29 November, with Israel delivering a scanty 60,000 litres, only marginally improving three days later, 2 December, with a delivery of 90,000 litres.
This week’s increased cutbacks resulted in a several day closure of Gaza’s petrol stations, owners striking in protest to the pittance of fuel allowed in—just one quarter of that normally received.
Gaza’s Association for Fuel Station Owners commented: "Petrol firms considered the amount negligible and so, in protest over the Israeli blockade, refused to accept the paltry offering which does not come close to meeting the essential needs of Gaza’s civilians."
A Gaza taxi driver related his concern: "Cutting off fuel means cutting off our lives. We use it for everything, in the place of wood or coal. It’s tragic not only that Israel is imposing this siege on Gaza, but also that some Palestinians are supporting this cruel embargo, with the naïve idea of causing the people turn against Hamas in Gaza."
Shortages of fuel have greatly affected the public transportation system, leaving students from universities in Gaza City delayed for hours standing in wait for transportation back to Khan Younes and Rafah in the south.
Trickle Effect
The fuel cuts in turn impede water access: with diesel-run pumps unable to function, leaving over 77,000 without fresh drinking water, according to Gaza’s water utility. Oxfam International has warned that soon 225,000 Gazans could suffer from inadequate water supplies, raising concerns for public health.
Ambulances and clinics suffer too, a fact reiterated by Khaled Radi, who related how fuel shortages have already brought some ambulances to a standstill: "This has affected the mobility of ambulances which are especially vital during on-going Israeli air strikes such as that of this morning."
He added that shortages further threatened to close essential clinics, which rely on back-up generators during the frequent electricity shortages in the Strip. Two first aid health centres have already been forced to suspend treatment during electricity cuts. Those that remain open suffer from want of medical supplies, with 91 of 416 essential medicines depleted, according to the WHO.
Even basic things are scarce. Residents are hard-pressed to find a piece of glass to repair a broken window, imperative in December’s cold weather, particularly in a time when electricity and gas are scarce-to-absent.
Eyad Yousef, a 31-year-old Palestinian teacher, has been waiting for cement, unavailable for the last many months, to enter Gaza. Concurrently, prices of building materials have skyrocketed, more than tripled in the worst cases. Yousef waits for any sort of building material, but he knows that he will not find anything, as he has looked all over the picked-clean area. "I have a floor of my home to finish, but can’t do so yet as no sort of building materials are available in Gaza," he said. "I'm using pieces of nylon to cover my windows at home, but I can’t go on like this for long," he added, saying he hopes that the international community will put pressure on Israel to open borders and let vital products into Gaza.
Death Penalty
Yousef, at least, is luckier than the newly dead: since last month at least 31 medical patients have died in Gaza, a result of Israel’s lockdown on borders and preventing of medical access to Israeli, Egyptian and Jordanian hospitals, as well as West Bank hospitals.
Since Hamas took over power in June, this subsequent Israeli lockdown has made it virtually impossible for Palestinians to get out of Gaza. The situation then deteriorated with the closing of Karni crossing, Gaza’s only commercial crossing, only opened for the most basic food essentials. Coupled with Israel’s ground and air attacks, the situation for Palestinians worsened yet further still when Israel last October announced Gaza as a "hostile entity", further allowing Israel to justify its closed-borders policy to the international arena.
In the densely-populated region starved of medical supplies, and now facing the shutdown of clinics, Gazan citizens have been given a death sentence with Israel’s control over borders. Yahya Al Jamal, 53, one case among hundreds of people, has cancer and is in serious need of medical care at well-equipped hospitals. For more than two months now he has been refused entry to Israel for treatment. His agonized father reported that his son will die in the coming days if he does not get the medication he needs, an outcome of Israel’s mass denial of the luxury of critical healthcare.
Insult upon injuries, cement—already scarce for building—is no longer available even for graves of the many recently dead.
Empty Stocks
Aid agencies like the World Food Program (WFP) are reporting that food imports are only enough to meet 41 percent of demand in the Gaza Strip.
As winter progresses, resilient citizens desperately seek to survive. In Rafah’s Saturday market, Umm Mohammed Zourub scours the stalls yet again: "I've been looking for new winter clothes for my children, but I haven't been able to find any because no materials are coming into Gaza with the closed borders," the 43-year-old mother lamented.
Indeed, the cold weather has fallen quickly on an internationally-isolated and starved population. From the intense heat of summer months, where water was scarce and air conditioning a fantasy, Gazans now experience the bitter cold in the same homes unprepared for extremes, and the bitter realization that, once again, they have been left to the whims of imprisonment, Israeli air and ground attacks, and a staggering invisibility in the international realm.
To read Mohammed Omer’s articles each month, subscribe to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs by calling (800) 368-5788 ext 1 or visiting our Web site, www.wrmea.com.