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Terrible humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip are showing signs of easing, as Israel and Hamas alleviate tensions and seek a long-term deal to calm the violence.
Israel has taken the unusual step of allowing the use of Qatar funds to pay for Hamas government employees in Gaza and providing financial assistance of $ 100 to 50,000 families. In addition, Qatar has provided enough fuel to Gaza to provide people with 16 hours of electricity a day, a first in five years. Israel has also granted Gaza fishermen wider access to the waters of the Mediterranean.
Improved conditions – evident last week – coincide with increased efforts by Egypt and the UN to negotiate a lasting ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which have been regularly trading since March . Recent progress has created hope for the people of Gaza to avoid a fourth war in a decade between Israel and Hamas. The people involved in the ceasefire talks would not want to say anything.
An oil tanker delivers gasoline to the Gaza Strip power plant in Nuseirat in October, after Israel has authorized the resumption of Qatar-funded fuel supplies.
Photo:
AFP / Getty Images
Any improvement in Gaza's conditions should be accompanied by the blessing of Israel, which with Egypt has imposed a blockade on the territory since Hamas took control of it in 2007. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank also blocked payment of wages and fuel.
Authorities in Gaza and Israel have said they want calm.
"After eight or nine months, I think Israel has come to the conclusion that it was the least bad option for him," said Kobi Michael, former head of the Palestinian office at the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs, currently at the Institute for National Security. Studies in Tel Aviv.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly supported the Egypt-United States project last week. talks and efforts to ease the conditions in Gaza.
"We are working to prevent [Gaza] forces entering Israel to harm our soldiers and our communities. In addition, we are working to prevent a humanitarian crisis, which is why we are ready to accept the mediation efforts of the AU and Egypt's efforts to restore calm and resolve the problem. electricity, "Netanyahu told Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Gaza continues to face a serious humanitarian crisis. Its electricity needs are still satisfied only at 50% and unemployment at 44%, according to the World Bank. In the absence of major changes, the UN says Gaza will be unbearable by 2020.
Tensions in Israel and Hamas picked up again in March, when Gazans began demonstrating weekly at the border fence, demanding the right to return to land currently in Israel. Israeli gunfire has killed more than 200 people since March, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Israel defended its response, saying the demonstrations were often violent and that it had to use live fire to protect its border from infiltration and that its people from attacks on Israel.
In recent days, these border demonstrations have become less violent after Egypt sent officials to monitor them. The rallies on Friday 2 November and last Friday have been among the quietest of the past few months, with protesters generally staying away from the fence and refraining from burning tires and kites. Friday, there were 25 wounded, a significant decrease compared to previous events.
"The easier they are, the easier it is for them," said 23-year-old Dalia Haniya, a mother of three from Gaza City, who said she participated in most of the protests.
"If they put an end to our suffering, we will end the protest," she said.
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, credited the weekly protests for improvements in Gaza. He cited the sacrifices of the protesters, as well as "the creativity of the rebellious people".
But Hamas sent signals that it wanted to restore conflict with Israel.
Two weeks ago, Islamic Jihad – a group of Gaza designated by Washington and Israel as a terrorist organization, like Hamas – fired rockets into Israel after the death of five protesters.
But two days later, the group did not retaliate after the air strike of three children by an Israeli airstrike, which allegedly attempted to plant a bomb at the border, suggesting that Hamas had detained it. Israel later said that he did not know that they were children.
Gaza residents have declared hope for the first time in months.
Mohamed Awad, 27, who works in a bookstore near Al-Azhar University in Gaza, said the store had electricity for three consecutive days uninterrupted, an inconceivable race, did it? -he declares.
At home, he says, his wife is no longer forced to get up at 4 am to do the laundry when she is energized. He said that they can also use their fridge.
"I can buy things like meat, fish, chicken, fruits and vegetables and keep them in the refrigerator, without having to worry, they may turn out badly," he said.
The Gaza power plant had last been able to provide similar amounts of energy in 2013, said a spokesman for Gaza 's electricity distribution company.
The improved conditions reflect Israel's calculation that it can no longer wait for the Palestinian Authority to reconcile with Hamas. The two Palestinian factions have been at odds since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. A recent Egyptian effort to reconcile them has shown little progress.
Qatar's aid to Gaza – long a benefactor for the Palestinians and a financier and political intermediary for Hamas – has angered the Palestinian Authority, which is trying to pressure Hamas to give up control of the enclave.
Both Israel and Hamas have accused the Palestinian Authority of intentionally aggravating conditions in Gaza in an attempt to gain political weight.
Palestinian Authority spokesman Ahmad Shami said that bypassing his organization would "widen the gap between political divisions and separate the West Bank from the Gaza Strip."
Mr. Shami added, "We condemn any attempt to consider the Gaza Strip solely from a humanitarian point of view … .We must go back to the root cause of the problem, recognize the blockade imposed on Gaza for 12 years and put genuinely end Israeli occupation by Israel. the West Bank and Gaza. "
-Dov Lieber in Tel Aviv contributed to this article.
Write to Felicia Schwartz to [email protected]
