Goods – Needs Vs. Supply – Jan 3 – Jan 30
Source: PalTrade, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Coordination Committee in Gaza
Annual graph and background information»
Items from previous weeks »
Industrial Fuel – Needs Vs. Supply – Jan 3 – Jan 30
Source: PalTrade and the Palestinian Crossings and Borders Committee in Gaza
Annual graph and background information»
Items from previous weeks »
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Trigger Happy on the Light Switch
In November, the European Union, which funds the industrial diesel needed to operate Gaza’s only power station, announced that in a joint decision with the Palestinian Authority (PA), its funding worth 97 million Euros per year would end, due in part to the global economic crisis. Despite the fact that it warned of its intentions months in advance, no alternative arrangement was made. In the meantime, the Gaza power station was forced to limit itself to an output of just 30 megawatts, almost a third of its potential generation capacity.
What One Hand Giveth, the Other Hand Taketh Away
Since Israel sent a search and rescue team and doctors to help earthquake-devastated Haiti, op-eds and articles have praised Israel’s important provision of relief and also attempted to hold up a mirror to the country, showing closure-devastated Gaza just over our shoulder. Some in Israel asked, how is it that aid is rushed half a world away when children are living in half-destroyed homes just an hour’s drive from Tel Aviv?
Gaza’s Strawberries Taste Europe
Since the end of December 2009, 36 trucks loaded with strawberries and cut carnation flowers were permitted to leave Gaza for Israel’s Ashdod port, from which they were shipped to Europe. This is the first time since January 2008 that strawberries have managed to leave the 41 kilometer-long Strip. The flowers have been a little luckier – prior to December 2009, Israel permitted the export of 19 truckloads of flowers during the past 2.5 years of closure, mostly around Valentine’s Day.
Militants Fire, Civilians Are Punished
The firing of rockets and mortar shells on towns in southern Israel from the Gaza Strip last week should be categorically condemned, since it targeted Israeli civilians or failed to distinguish between military and civilian targets. The perpetrators and the Hamas government which allows militant groups to fire from the territory under its control must be held accountable. The Israeli Defense Ministry’s hasty response, however, declaring that Kerem Shalom would be closed until further notice, raised concern among those trying to transfer humanitarian supplies to Gaza.
