Red Cross Details Fallout From Gaza Blockade
Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip has left “1.5 million people in despair,” a Red Cross report said.
The report, released Monday by the International Committee of the Red Cross, says the blockade of the coastal strip is preventing Gaza from rebuilding six months after Israel’s military operation in Gaza. Many homes were damaged or destroyed in the operation.
“Gaza neighborhoods particularly hard hit by the Israeli strikes will continue to look like the epicenter of a massive earthquake unless vast quantities of cement, steel and other building materials are allowed into the territory for reconstruction,” the report said.
It called on Israel to “lift import restrictions on spare parts, water pipes and building materials such as cement and steel so that homes can be rebuilt and vital infrastructure maintained and upgraded.”
The report also criticized the blockade for denying appropriate access to health care for Gazans.
“Health issues in Gaza are often politicized and patients find themselves caught up in a bureaucratic maze,” it said. “The procedures for requesting permission to leave the territory are complicated and involve both the Palestinian and Israeli authorities.”
The report rapped Israel for stopping Red Cross-facilitated visits with their relatives in Israeli prisons, though it made no mention of the fact that Hamas has refused to allow any contact between captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and either the Red Cross or his family. Shalit has been held in Gaza for three years since being abducted in a cross-border raid.
According to the report, “People in Gaza are trapped. Because Israel has shut the crossing points, Gazans have scant opportunity for contact with relatives abroad or for further education or professional training.”
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
