Has Israel forgotten the "reason" for Gaza's closure?

Posted on December 29, 2009

As news organizations report each detail of a possible prisoner release deal between Israel and Hamas, a related subject is receiving less attention: whether the release of the captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, would lead to an opening of Gaza’s crossings, closed to all but the bare minimum passage of people and goods. Continue reading →

Posted in Movement of goods into Gaza, Movement of people into Gaza, Movement of people out of Gaza | 1 Comment

Vaccinating Gaza

Posted on December 23, 2009

The closure of the Gaza Strip is tight enough to make life difficult for residents, but fences and checkpoints don’t prevent viruses from passing through, as became apparent earlier this month. Despite predictions that the closure of Gaza might protect it from exposure to the Swine Flu, the virus was identified in the Gaza Strip two weeks ago, and already some 185 people have been diagnosed as infected, 13 of whom have died. Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, Movement of goods into Gaza | Comments Off

NEWSFLASH: The Israeli MFA isn't telling the whole truth

Posted on December 16, 2009

On December 6th, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a newsletter highlighting the economic situation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Though there are some miscalculations, for the most part the MFA’s data are accurate. The real problem is that the numbers appear without context. In this week’s post we provide context for the MFA’s (mostly) correct numbers. Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, Movement of goods into Gaza | 6 Comments

Surf's Up

Posted on December 8, 2009

It’s become almost common knowledge that on any given day, anywhere from 40-50 million liters of untreated or partially treated sewage flow from Gaza’s sewage treatment plants into the Mediterranean Sea, and an additional 20 million liters seep into the ground, threatening other water sources. The treatment plants, due to crossings policies blocking supply of fuel and spare parts, intermittent electricity supply, and years of de-development, are struggling to treat 70 million liters of sewage produced by Gaza’s 1.5 million residents each day. Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure | 3 Comments

Goods – Needs Vs. Supply – Nov 8 – Dec 5

Posted on December 7, 2009

Source: PalTrade, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Coordination Committee in Gaza Annual graph and background information»

Posted in Supplies | Leave a comment

Running Out of Gas

Posted on December 2, 2009

The severe shortage of cooking gas in the Gaza Strip has attracted scant media and public attention over the past two months. Generally, since the closure was imposed in 2007, the average monthly amount of cooking gas that Israel allows into the Strip has met only 56% of needs in Gaza. Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure | 5 Comments

Is Increased Aid to Gaza Good News?

Posted on November 23, 2009

Last week Israel proudly boasted of a sharp increase in the transfer of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. This announcement coincided with the publication of a statement of concern by the European Union regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza, noting that there has been no improvement since January 2009, when the war ended. Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, Movement of goods into Gaza | 8 Comments

Who Has the Right to a Notebook?

Posted on November 16, 2009

This week the Israeli Foreign Ministry boasted that Israel has allowed “a large quantity of educational tools such as notebooks, backpacks, writing tools, and textbooks” into the Gaza Strip in the last month. The Foreign Ministry wrote that: “Through COGAT and the Gaza DCL, Israel makes great efforts to provide for the humanitarian needs of the Gaza Strip, and for this reason the recent transfer was facilitated at the request of the organization [UNRWA].” Continue reading →

Posted in Movement of goods into Gaza | 4 Comments

A Storm in Gaza

Posted on November 8, 2009

The first storm of the winter hit Israel last week. Following a long period of drought, the plentiful downpour was greeted with joy, even though the stormy weather predictably caused flooding and damage. The rain and strong winds also hit Gaza, where residents found that they are particularly vulnerable in stormy weather. Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure | 6 Comments

The Dangers of Music, According to Israel

Posted on November 2, 2009

Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai’s response to a query submitted by MK Dov Khenin in July regarding the ban on importing musical instruments into Gaza was recently published. In his (surprising) answer, the deputy minister claimed that: “According to the information available, no applications to bring musical instruments into the Gaza Strip have been received for the past two years.” Continue reading →

Posted in Movement of goods into Gaza | 3 Comments