UNRWA's services fully restored despite uncertainty, dwindling food and looming sanitation crisis in Gaza 

Date: 19 / 06 / 2007 Time: 10:49

Bethlehem - Ma'an - 

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has resumed full services in the Gaza Strip despite the precarious situation in the area.

UNRWA reported in a press release that the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, Karen AbuZayd, said that UNRWA’s operations in Gaza “had returned to levels seen before the current round of fighting”.

AbuZayd added that UNRWA is working to full capacity in the Gaza Strip and that the local population had been terribly affected by the "chronic insecurity".

Two UN workers were killed in Gaza during the latest conflict, forcing UN agencies to halt operations in order to protect their workers. AbuZayd said, "I am painfully aware of the potential threat to my staff on the ground and I am keeping the security situation under constant review”.

The situation in Gaza is particularly desperate under current Hamas control as Israel has closed all crossings and is threatening to suspend the supply of water, electricity and fuel. When asked about Israeli intentions to cease supply of vital goods, AbuZayd said, “We have had no such indications from our contacts with Israeli authorities. It would not be in anyone's interests to take measures that would aggravate the already desperate situation in Gaza".

Dwindling food supplies

According the IRIN, the UN humanitarian news and information service, food supplies are also running low in the Gaza Strip.

UNRWA's chief of operations in the strip, John Ging, said that his organisation had food supplies in its Gaza warehouses that could last for 10 days.

"The next challenge is to get aid into Gaza. The crossings must open," Ging added to IRIN.

UNRWA Senior Liaison Officer Saahir Lone explained in a press release from the United Nations Department of Public Information that a chronic lack of funding and restrictions on the movement of goods in and out of the Gaza Strip had made it difficult for UNRWA to maintain a food reserve. “Certainly if the crossing points remain closed for more than a few days, it could become an issue for the Agency,” he said.

Shlomo Dror, a spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Defence's humanitarian coordination section, blamed Hamas for the border closures.

"As of right now, the Palestinians closed all the crossings, so we can't bring in any aid. We will have to be creative," Dror told IRIN.

Impending sanitation crisis

In addition, Gaza's gas supply, which comes from Israel, has been stopped; although it is likely supplies to the Gaza power station will continue. The Israeli government and gas supply company Dor Alon have both held each other responsible for the decision, IRIN reports. Observers say the move could lead to severe shortages of petrol and cooking gas within days.

According to IRIN, Benyamin ben Eliezer, the Israeli minister of infrastructure, told local radio: "We must end all aid and help to Gaza. I am ending it all until I understand what is going on there."

The environmental aid agency, 'Friends of the Earth Middle East', has warned of an impending sanitation crisis in Gaza as a result of the lack of gas to pump out the strip's sewage.

"If indeed the pumps cease to work, raw sewage will flow into the Mediterranean Sea or will pile up untreated," FoEME warned in a press release. "In addition, without fuel for trucks, garbage removal for cities in the Gaza Strip will not be possible either."

The consequences could include "the outbreak of diseases and infectious illnesses, coupled with the loss of an already reduced water source as a result of pollution," the press release continued.

“Collapse of the sewage system during the summer months could be a real catastrophe. Diseases associated with water are the number one cause for child mortality in the world”, says Zacharya Tagar, Deputy Director of Friends of the Earth Middle East.

“Outbreak of diseases and illnesses would compound the humanitarian crisis taking place in front of our eyes. Even if Israel is not to blame for the events taking place in the Gaza strip, it is possible to contain the humanitarian and environmental crisis by preventing rash acts, such as cutting off fuel supplies”.

West Bank challenges

Humanitarian concerns are also growing in the West Bank.

On 16 June, gunmen presumed to be affiliated to Fatah, stole several tons of food from a World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse in Nablus and looted its office, IRIN news agency reported.

"I am extremely concerned by this unprecedented attack," said Arnold Vercken from the WFP. "This food is intended for chronically poor families who have very little means of surviving without it. Our continued work relies on security guarantees for our staff and partners on the ground."

A WFP statement warned that its "humanitarian mission is becoming increasingly challenging amidst the current security environment".

"The truth is, we really just don't know what the situation will be like, here or in Gaza. We are preparing for everything, but we don't know exactly for what," said a Palestinian aid worker in the West Bank, who asked not to be named.

Ongoing concerns for Palestine refugees in Lebanon

The UNRWA commissioner-general also commented on the situation in Lebanon, in relation to the ongoing fighting between militant group Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese army in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp for Palestinians. AbuZayd said, "Once the guns have fallen silent, we will need to get into the camp and begin the long task of reconstruction. Before we can even do that, we will need to clear unexploded ordnance so that the camp is safe for returning refugees”.

UNRWA launched an emergency appeal for funds for projects in the devastated refugee camp in northern Lebanon and $13 million has already been pledged by donors. “We are grateful for the generosity of our donors", said AbuZayd. "The funds received will also give us a head start in planning for Nahr El Bared: it is already clear that the longer term reconstruction of the camp will take time and place new financial burdens on UNRWA”.

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