UN halts work on Gaza projects due to Israeli building materials ban 2013
UN halts work on Gaza projects
due to Israeli building materials ban
The U.N. said on Tuesday it had halted work on all but one of its 20 Gaza building projects as a result of an Israeli ban on importing building materials into the Palestinian enclave
Israel imposed the ban after discovering on Oct. 13 a 2.5-km (1-1/2-mile) tunnel which it said militants planned to use for attacks inside its territory. Islamist Hamas, which has run the Gaza Strip since 2007, claimed it dug the tunnel
We are in now in the fourth week (in which) we are not allowed to bring in construction material, Robert Turner, director of Gaza operations for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said
We do not know when we will be allowed to restart these projects, he said, calling for the ban to be lifted
He told reporters that the only building project still under way, a bridge, was also running out of building materials
The others included 12 schools and a health centre
A spokesman for the Israeli government agency that oversees shipments into Gaza gave no indication when the import ban might be lifted
For security reasons, building materials are not allowed into Gaza for the time being, he said
UNWRA’s Turner said the economic situation in the territory, where unemployment, according to U.N. figures, is at 30 percent, has worsened following Egypt’ s closure of smuggling tunnels under its border with Gaza
Egypt’s military-run government, which has been battling Islamist militants in the Sinai Peninsula near Gaza, regards Hamas as a security threat
Hamas has denied Cairo’s accusations it has been involved in Egyptian unrest
Tunnels had provided a commercial lifeline for Gaza in the face of Israeli-led economic sanctions
They were also used by militant groups to smuggle in weapons and funds
Local economists say the tunnels’ closure has forced about 20,000 Gazans out of jobs and caused consumer prices to spike
We see no positive indicators for Gaza. We do not see at any level or any sector where the situation is improving and that obviously is very worrying, said Turner, whose agency provides food aid to 830,000 of Gaza’ s 1.8 million population
In Jerusalem, Yosef Kuperwasser, director-general of Israel’s Strategic Affairs Ministry, told reporters that the tunnel Hamas built into Israel showed that its desire to carry out cross-border attacks outweighed economic considerations
Mr. Ashraf Fouda