The serious incidents that took place on 31 May between Israeli
forces and activists on a flotilla heading for Gaza once again put the
spotlight on the acute hardship faced by the population in the Gaza
Strip.
As the ICRC has stressed repeatedly, the dire situation in Gaza cannot
be resolved by providing humanitarian aid. The closure imposed on the
Gaza Strip is about to enter its fourth year, choking off any real
possibility of economic development. Gazans continue to suffer from
unemployment, poverty and warfare, while the quality of Gaza's health
care system has reached an all-time low.
The whole of Gaza's civilian population is being punished for acts for
which they bear no responsibility. The closure therefore constitutes a
collective punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel's obligations
under international humanitarian law.
"The closure is having a devastating impact on the 1.5 million people
living in Gaza", said Béatrice Mégevand-Roggo, the ICRC's head of
operations for the Middle East. "That is why we are urging Israel to put
an end to this closure and call upon all those who have an influence on
the situation, including Hamas, to do their utmost to help Gaza's
civilian population. Israel's right to deal with its legitimate security
concerns must be balanced against the Palestinians' right to live
normal, dignified lives."
The international community has to do its part to ensure that repeated
appeals by States and international organizations to lift the closure
are finally heeded.
Under international humanitarian law, Israel must ensure that the basic
needs of Gazans, including adequate health care, are met. The
Palestinian authorities, for their part, must do everything within their
power to provide proper health care, supply electricity and maintain
infrastructure for Gaza's people.
Furthermore, all States have an obligation to allow and facilitate rapid
and unimpeded passage of all relief consignments, equipment and
personnel.
Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is about to enter his fifth year in
captivity. Hamas has continued to rebuff the ICRC's requests to let it
visit Gilad Shalit. In violation of international humanitarian law, it
has also refused to allow him to get in touch with his family. The ICRC
again urges those detaining Gilad Shalit to grant him the regular
contact with his family to which he is entitled. It also reiterates that
those detaining him have an obligation to ensure that he is well
treated and that his living conditions are humane and dignified.
Ruined livelihoods
Although about 80 types of goods are now allowed into Gaza –
twice as many as a year ago – over 4,000 items could be brought in prior
to the closure. Generally, the price of goods has increased while their
quality has dropped – this is one consequence of the largely
unregulated trade conducted through the tunnels that have been dug under
the Gaza-Egypt border to circumvent the closure.
Fertile farmland located close to the border fence has been turned into a
wasteland by ongoing hostilities, affecting people's livelihoods in
many rural communities. The buffer zone imposed by Israel extends in
practice over one kilometre into the Gaza Strip, covering a total area
of about 50 square kilometres that is host to nearly a third of Gaza's
farmland and a large share of its livestock. Agricultural activities in
the area are hampered by security conditions. Israel's enforcement of
the buffer zone and frequent hostilities have resulted not only in
civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian property but also in
the impoverishment and displacement of numerous families.
Gaza's fishermen have been greatly affected by successive reductions
imposed by Israel on the size of the fishing grounds they are allowed to
exploit. The latest restriction to three nautical miles has cut down
both the quantity and quality of the catch. As a result, nearly 90% of
Gaza's 4000 fishermen are now considered either poor (with a monthly
income of between 100 and 190 US dollars) or very poor (earning less
than 100 dollars a month), up from 50% in 2008. In their struggle to
survive, the fishermen have little choice but to sail into no-go zones,
at the risk of being shot by the Israeli navy.
"I have already been arrested and my boat has been confiscated several
times," said Nezar Ayyash, who heads Gaza's fishermen's union. "But this
is our life here. We know that fishing can cost us our lives, but we
have no other choice but to go out with our boats: we need to feed our
families."
No cure in sight for ailing health-care system
Gaza is suffering from an acute electricity crisis. The power
supply in Gaza is interrupted for seven hours a day on average. The
consequences for public services, especially the primary health-care
system, are devastating. Hospitals rely on generators to cope with the
daily blackouts.
The power cuts pose a serious risk to the treatment of patients – and to
their very lives. It takes two to three minutes for a generator to
begin operating, and during that time electronic devices do not
function. As a result, artificial respirators must be reactivated
manually, dialysis treatment is disrupted and surgery is suspended as
operating theatres are plunged into darkness.
To make matters worse, fuel reserves for hospital generators keep drying
up. Three times this year, fuel shortages have forced hospitals to
cancel all elective surgery and accept emergency cases only. Gaza's
paediatric hospital had to transfer all its patients to another facility
because it could no longer function. Laundry services have repeatedly
shut down. With the prospect of increased electricity consumption during
the hot summer months when air conditioning is required, the situation
is likely to deteriorate further if hospitals do not receive ample fuel.
Fluctuations in the power supply can also damage essential medical
equipment. Repairs are difficult owing to the closure, under which the
transfer into Gaza of spare parts for medical equipment is subject to
excessive delays of up to several months.
The transfer of disposable electrodes, which are used to monitor the
heart rhythm of cardiac patients, has been delayed since August 2009.
Without this equipment, patient lives are at risk, as heart problems may
not be detected in time. Because of the restrictions in place, most
heart monitors in Gaza will be unusable by the end of this month. The
run-down state of equipment is one of the reasons for the high numbers
of patients seeking treatment outside the Strip.
Stocks of essential medical supplies have reached an all-time low
because of a standstill in cooperation between Palestinian authorities
in Ramallah and Gaza. At the end of May 2010, 110 of 470 medicines
considered essential, such as chemotherapy and haemophilia drugs, were
unavailable in Gaza. When chemotherapy is interrupted, the chances of
success drop dramatically, even if another painful round of treatment is
initiated. Haemophilia patients face life-threatening haemorrhages when
compounds such as Factor VIII and IX are not available.
More than 110 of the 700 disposable items that should be available are
also out of stock. The only way to cope is to re-use such items as
ventilator tubes or colostomy bags, even though doing so can lead to
infections that endanger patients' lives.
"The state of the health-care system in Gaza has never been worse," said
Eileen Daly, the ICRC's health coordinator in the territory. "Health is
being politicized: that is the main reason the system is failing.
Unless something changes, things are only going to get even worse.
Thousands of patients could go without treatment and the long-term
outlook will be increasingly worrisome."
The health-care system is further weakened by severe restrictions
imposed on the movement of people into and out of Gaza. The restrictions
prevent medical staff from leaving the Strip to get the training they
need to update their skills, and technicians from entering to repair
medical equipment.
Lack of sanitation hazardous for health and the environment
The lack of proper sanitation and certain agricultural practices
are polluting Gaza's aquifer. Only about 60% of the territory's 1.4
million inhabitants are connected to a sewage collection system. Raw
sewage discharged into the river Wadi Gaza, which snakes through urban
areas, jeopardizes the health of the communities living on its banks.
Because the aquifer is over-exploited, drinking water in most of Gaza
contains high levels of nitrate, chloride and salt. The water is unfit
for consumption, and the risk of contracting an infectious disease is
high.
Assembling enough suitable materials to carry out sanitation projects is
a slow and haphazard process. Materials obtained through the tunnel
trade can be of questionable quality, while some items, such as certain
electro-mechanical pumps, cannot be found at all, which hobbles
construction efforts.
"The current situation is critical and may lead to an irreversible trend
in the degradation of underground fresh water," said Javier Cordoba,
who oversees the ICRC's water and sanitation activities in Gaza.
"Large-scale projects, such as the construction of a desalination plant,
must be undertaken to meet water-supply needs without further exposing
the aquifer. The closure must be lifted so that the 4.5 billion US
dollars pledged by donor countries over a year ago can be put to use."
ICRC activities in 2010
In Gaza, the ICRC continues to work closely with the Palestine Red
Crescent Society, supporting its efforts to boost its capacities as a
provider of core humanitarian services within the Gaza Strip, which
include pre-hospital emergency care and psycho-social activities. The
ICRC has also provided support for construction and renovation work
carried out on three stations of the Palestine Red Crescent emergency
medical services, two of which were damaged during last year's war.
The ICRC closely monitors the situation of civilians adversely affected
by the conduct of hostilities or armed violence. It makes confidential
representations to the authorities or armed groups concerned, reminding
them of their obligation to comply with international humanitarian law
and other international rules.
The ICRC endeavours to ensure that a certain level of care is maintained
for sick and injured patients, but owing to restrictions there is only
so much it can do. It delivers spare parts needed to keep medical
equipment in working condition. In addition, to help hospitals cope with
the most urgent needs, it regularly supplies medical facilities with
drugs and other medical items intended mainly for emergency rooms and
operating theatres. It also provides technical assistance and supplies
for the Artificial Limb and Polio Centre in Gaza City, where over 1,000
patients have received treatment this year.
The ICRC is doing everything it can to enhance the power and water
supply in hospitals, where it is also seeking to improve sanitation,
laundry and other services. In addition, it is building an extension to
the Polio Centre in Gaza City.
The ICRC continues to work on upgrades for the Rafah wastewater
treatment plant which will eventually serve some 170,000 people.
However, to finish the work, certain materials must be allowed in
through the crossing points. The upgrades, once completed, will result
not only in a safer and more healthful environment for the population,
but also in treated wastewater clean enough to seep into and refresh the
aquifer, which remains the sole source of drinking water in the Gaza
Strip.
The ICRC helps needy families in Gaza to make ends meet through
cash-for-work programmes, and helps farmers to increase crop yields. In
particular, the aid it provides enables farmers to reclaim and develop
land degraded by military operations or enforced neglect, to improve
soil fertility and productivity, and to obtain enough seedlings for each
agricultural season.
Over 800 Gazan detainees in Israeli prisons have been prevented from
meeting face-to-face with their loved ones since June 2007, when Israel
suspended the ICRC's family visit programme. To mitigate the effects of
this measure, the ICRC has doubled its own visits to Gazan detainees and
stepped up its efforts to maintain family links by delivering written
and oral messages between detainees and their families.
Between January and May 2010, the ICRC:
- visited about 450 people held in places of detention throughout the Gaza Strip in order to monitor the conditions of detention, the treatment they receive and the application of procedural safeguards. The organization shared its findings with the authorities on a regular basis and made confidential representations whenever appropriate;
- visited 300 Gazan detainees in over 20 places of detention in Israel;
- delivered over 100 messages from Gazan families to detained relatives and over 200 from Gazan detainees to their families in Gaza;
- provided about 90 tonnes of drugs and disposable items for eight government hospitals;
- responded to 17 requests from the Ministry of Health to help keep specialized medical equipment up and running; in particular, the ICRC provided spare parts for ultrasound and mammography machines, oxygen connectors for an intensive care unit, a laryngoscope lens, and a power supply box for a CT scanner. It also provided spare parts for hospital generators and washing machines;
- provided technical support for Shifa Hospital's emergency department, which included two emergency-room training courses attended by over 50 doctors and nurses;
- provided maintenance for over 60 ambulances from the Ministry of Health's fleet, and carried out 15 station visits together with the Palestine Red Crescent Society to monitor and support the activities of the emergency medical services;
- supported the efforts of the Palestine Red Crescent to boost its capacities, and took steps to enhance coordination between various ambulance service providers in the Gaza Strip;
- provided support for construction and renovation work carried out on three stations of the emergency medical services;
- provided support for Palestine Red Crescent workshops on disaster planning attended by 120 staff and volunteers;
- promoted international humanitarian law in sessions with Gaza's Hamas authorities, armed groups, academics and religious groups.