Truckloads of basic foodstuffs entering Gaza
Truckloads of basic foodstuffs entering GazaIsrael News Photo: (file)

Israel buckled to international pressure on Friday and opened the Gaza crossings to enable the United Nations to deliver food to the poor. However, it could have done so days ago but refused to ship rice, cooking oil and powdered milk because of the lack of flour.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Friday ended his policy of retaliation to rocket and mortar attacks by closing Gaza crossings because of international pressure, primarily from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the International Association of the Red Cross, according to IDF Defense Ministry Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories.

Both agencies had complained that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was growing serious. UNRWA in particular said it had stopped distributing food to the poor altogether, citing a lack of supplies.

"Since December 18, our strategic reserves have been exhausted because the closure went on so long," Sami Mshasha, spokesperson for the United Nations agency, explained in an exclusive interview with Israel National News.

Supplies of flour were really the main problem, said Mshasha. "The flour was completely exhausted. Not one sack was left. It takes a lot to provide enough sacks of flour for 750,000 refugees, which is our regular list. It requires an army of people and trucks."

Most of the other elements of the food packages were still available, albeit in lesser quantities. However, the agency was unwilling to distribute incomplete packages, fewer packages, or packages with lesser amounts of food items.

"The packages are arranged to ensure the nutritious value for the family," said Mshasha. "What we have left does not warrant a full distribution cycle. The amounts simply did not warrant distribution."

The packages include a 50-kilogram (110 pounds) sack of sugar, a 50 kg sack of rice, a 50 kg sack of lentils, four jerry cans of cooking oil and a large sack of powdered milk. Depending on the size of the family, each package includes one to three 50-kg sacks of flour.

No Cash in Gaza Banks for UNRWA Subsidies Either

The agency also provides 20,000 families with a special quarterly hardship grant of $350 in cash for families without a breadwinner in the household.

"However the program has been suspended due to a dearth of bank notes," Mshasha lamented. "There is not enough cash available in the Gaza banks at this point for us to carry out our programs."

Not only UNRWA is affected, he said. The PESGASE subsidy program provided by the European Union (EU), which provides a $400 quarterly cash subsidy to each of 24,000 families in Gaza also suspended its operations 10 days ago, said Mshasha, reportedly for the same reason: no cash in the banks.

When asked why that should be the case, when Israel transferred $25 million (NIS 100 million) in shekel notes to Gaza banks less than a month ago, on December 11, Mshasha said the reason was unclear.

"I don't know the exact details, but $100,000 is nothing compared to the millions needed on a monthly basis by the Palestinian Authority for its operations," he said. "This issue is between the Israeli authorities and the Gaza-based banks and the PA government. UNRWA does not have a position. But there isn't enough cash in the banks for us to provide the grant for this particular round of distribution. I don't know why."

However, a British newspaper reported this week that following the transfer of banknotes by the Olmert administration, Hamas profited by selling shekels on the black market as well as converting some of the cash into dollars.

The Palestinian Authority, which was supposed to oversee the receipt of the cash, said it could not control the destination of the cash and could not guarantee that some of the money would not end up in the hands of Hamas instead of bank accounts of unpaid workers.

No Pressure on Hamas

UNRWA has not applied equal pressure – or any pressure, for that matter -- on the Hamas terrorist organization that currently rules Gaza to stop firing rockets at Israel, which would facilitate the opening of the crossings.

"This is not the job of UNRWA," said Mshasha. "There are other specialized organs of the UN that are entrusted with this job, and this is a message that was made clear repeatedly by our director.

"As a humanitarian arm of the United Nations, UNRWA has gone on record saying that these occasional homemade rockets, the ones that are fired into Israel, should stop."

When pressed, Mshasha conceded that barrages of more than 60 rockets and mortar attacks in a single day are not "occasional" attacks. He said, "We do understand the security concerns related to this issue," but he stuck to his guns when it came to justifying the agency's continuing relations with Hamas terrorists while not addressing their part in keeping the crossings closed.

"Our role should be allowed to continue," Mshasha maintained. "Those who fire the rockets are not the 1.5 million Gazans and for them to be punished does not add up. It is counterproductive.

"Negotiations between the concerned parties and resumption of the ceasefire are the first step in the process, he said. "But as UNRWA we require a period of quiet and opening of the borders to allow us to fulfill our mandate and do our job." 

The other requirement demanded by the U.N. agency involved an old argument with Israeli authorities, one that dates back more than a year ago. "We have been unable to bring in school textbooks and other essential supplies for our schools and clinics," Mshasha said.

"There is no security value to entry of textbooks, spare parts for our equipment in our clinics, computers, and $19 million of building materials to build new schools and clinics," he insisted, although many textbooks include incitement against Israel.

"If the people are boxed in with nothing moving in, and robbing UNRWA from being able to provide basic support for them for more than a year, what has Israel accomplished?

If kidney dialysis patients cannot get the treatment they need because equipment is missing," he asked, "what message am I sending about peace and stability and future?"

Defense Ministry Response

"Israel views the international organizations as main partners in implementing humanitarian and development missions both in the West Bank [Judea and Samaria] and in the Gaza Strip," said Lerner in a written response to Israel National News on UNRWA's comments. "As such, ongoing efforts are employed in order to facilitate the humanitarian missions, especially those of UNRWA, occasionally under fire of terrorist organizations."

Lerner pointed out that a shipment of humanitarian supplies was transported through Kerem Shalom crossing on behalf of UNRWA, the WFP (World Food Program) and UNICEF, noting a similar shipment had been planned earlier in the week but had been thwarted by the terrorists with a barrage of rockets and mortars.

"It is the rocket fire that prevents Israel from operating crossings on a daily basis; the international community should acknowledge this," Lerner said. "Needless to say, no other country in the world would continue to supply goods to a neighboring country under fire, this always seems to be overlooked by Israel's critics," he added bluntly.

"Unfortunately the various bodies and especially UNRWA, do not send out a clear message to the terrorist organizations against attacking Israeli citizens. These terrorists have no regard for the humanitarian missions the international community is trying to carry out.

"Hamas, not Israel, should be held accountable for the situation in Gaza," Lerner asserted.