I/III. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israelgaza-conflict-israel-must-stop-punishing-gazas-people-pleads-un-commissioner-9673778.html Israel-Gaza conflict: 'Israel must stop punishing Gaza's people,' pleads UN commissioner As Egypt renews its peace-deal efforts, a top humanitarian official says it's time to end the crippling seven-year blockade
Donald Macintyre <http://www.independent.co.uk/biography/donald-macintyre> GAZA CITY Sunday 17 August 2014 The United Nations' top humanitarian official in the Middle East yesterday issued an impassioned appeal for a new deal for Gaza to end the "collective punishment" of its 1.8 million inhabitants imposed by Israel's seven-year blockade of the territory. As Egyptian mediators prepared to renew efforts today to persuade Israel and Hamas to agree a durable peace deal to end more than a month of conflict, Pierre Krähenbühl, Commissoner General of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, warned: "You cannot just return to the pre-existing conditions under the blockade." The ending of the blockade is one of Hamas's key demands in the Cairo peace talks. Yesterday, Hamas's head of foreign affairs, Osama Hamdan, said on his official Facebook page that Israel's position did not meet the aspirations of the Palestinians. And he warned: "Israel must accept the demands of the Palestinian people or face a long war." Mr Krähenbühl, who has direct responsibility for the education and health provision for 1.2 million Gazans, said he had been struck before the conflict started that, with youth unemployment running at 65 per cent and an increase in those receiving UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency) food aid from 80,000 to 830,000 since 2000, people here had "no freedom of movement, no real hope that anything significant is going to change, and all that the result of the blockade". Swiss-born Mr Krähenbühl added: "No one can be proud of those statistics." With "tens of thousands" now homeless mainly as a result of Israeli bombardment, and 225,000 displaced residents still sheltering in UNRWA schools, he added: "In addition to all that, you now have destruction, loss of life, injuries, trauma ... you can't have these people, who have already been affected by the blockade and endured this level of violence, and leave them like this." The Commissioner General said an extended ceasefire was "vitally important" both for Palestinians "who have gone through so much suffering" and for Israelis, so they could be free of rocket fire "which I have always said should cease". But he added that "looking at the lives lost in Gaza and the extent of destruction, we need something different than returning to the pre-existing state" of the blockade, which Israel imposed after Hamas's forcible seizure of full control of the territory in 2007. Mr Krähenbühl said from UNRWA's perspective the blockade was illegal "under international humanitarian law". On the most immediate issue - the ban on importing construction materials, he said it was "socially untenable" for people not to be able to rebuild their shattered homes. He said he recognised Israel's legitimate security concerns, but added that the blockade "amounts in many ways to a form of collective punishment". He had been struck by a recent conversation with a Gaza businessman who had lamented that while he had traded with Israelis and learnt to "understand" their concerns over a long period before the blockade, his children had never met an Israeli and knew their neighbours through barriers, the blockade and military interventions with "tanks and shells". Mr Krähenbühl added: "No longer having the personal knowledge nor being able to engage with the other is a very serious issue for the future." He also stepped up pressure on Israel to conduct a "thorough, comprehensive, open and transparent" investigation into the strikes on three UN schools used as refuges for displaced residents in Beit Hanoun, Jabalya and Rafah, which caused multiple deaths and injuries. The UN has already denounced the lethal Israeli strikes on the schools at Rafah and Jablaya, the latter hit by artillery shelling. Mr Krähenbühl said that while he had not had the data to attribute the Beit Hanoun attack to Israel at the time - and he did not want to pre-judge any inquiry - he did not think there was "much doubt that it was an Israeli operation". He said he was not suggesting that those who attacked the schools did so deliberately, but that Israel had an obligation under international law to conduct a full investigation as the "party responsible for a military operation or a shelling that causes loss of life by civilians". Mr Krähenbühl also denounced an attempted "narrative" which had surfaced in some Israeli and Western media that because UNRWA had discovered rockets stored by militants in three of its empty schools this somehow justified further attacks on UNRWA schools. "I have to say in the strongest terms that not only resists any honest scrutiny under international humanitarian law, but it's just completely unacceptable and irresponsible," he said. Mr Krähenbühl, who has 25 years' experience of war zones, said that 11 UNRWA staff members had been killed in this conflict and it was a tribute to the "courage and resolve" of UNRWA's 12,500 staff that they had carried on. He added: "I don't know of any other international agency that would continue operations after losing 11 people." II/III. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.610913 LIVE UPDATES: Israel partially lifts fishing ban in Gaza as gesture amid truce talks Egypt puts forth final Gaza truce proposal to break deadlock; West likely to step up pressure for agreement if Cairo talks fail; Minister Steinitz: Israel can't cede on Gaza demilitarization. By Haaretz <http://www.haaretz.com/misc/writers/haaretz-1.367584> | Aug. 17, 2014 | 4:30 PM The five-day extension of the Israel-Hamas cease-fire continued to hold on Sunday as the Egyptian-mediated talks on a more permanent truce between the sides seemed to make scarce progress. The Israeli delegation to the negotiations returned to Cairo on Sunday morning for what seemed to be a last-ditch effort to reach an agreement. The talks were expected to continue through Monday night, when the temporary cease-fire is scheduled to end. Egypt has reportedly put forth a "final proposal <http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.610848>" to break the deadlock, but Palestinian sources said it's doubtful the sides will accept its wording. Senior Israeli officials have said that should the Egyptian mediation efforts fail, Western powers will likely try to push for a UN Security Council <http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.610872> resolution that would call for an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip. Snipped. III. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.610848 Palestinians: Deal unlikely by Monday on Egypt's 'final proposal' for Gaza The wording implies Israel's full recognition of the Hamas-Fatah unity government, but Cairo is still expected to allow for changes. By Zvi Bar'el <http://www.haaretz.com/misc/writers/zvi-bar-el-1.693> | Aug. 16, 2014 | 7:51 PM Egypt has reportedly put forth a "final proposal" to break the deadlock following the Gaza fighting <http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.610840>, but Palestinian sources say it's doubtful Israel and the Palestinians will accept the wording in talks scheduled for the next two days. Under Egypt's proposal, Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza commit not to take any action against the other by "sea, air or land," while the Palestinians promise not to dig tunnels into Israel, Egyptian newspaper Al-Shorouk reported Friday. It's a "final proposal," but sources say Cairo is still expected to accept any agreement that does not harm Egypt's interests. If the wording is accepted, Israel would be signing a document implying full recognition of the Hamas-Fatah unity government. Jerusalem has refused to do this, threatening sanctions on the Palestinian Authority instead. Such an agreement would strengthen the principles forged by the Oslo Accords <http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.610732> under which Gaza and the West Bank are one political entity. The Palestinian government could use these principles in a bid to win international recognition of a Palestinian state, perhaps as a full member of the United Nations. "All crossings between Israel and Gaza would be opened in a manner that would end the blockade and allow the free movement of goods and people, as well as of materials for rebuilding Gaza," Al-Shorouk reported. The deal would allow for "the transfer of goods between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in accordance with previous agreements between the Israeli authorities and the Palestinians." "All financial matters concerning Gaza" would be coordinated, the paper added, referring to salaries for Hamas employees. It said that under the agreement, the buffer zone at the Israel-Gaza border would be narrowed to 300 meters and, on November 18, to 100 meters. On January 1, PA forces would deploy on the Gaza border. Under the proposal, Israel would agree to gradually expand the Gaza fishing zone to 12 nautical miles off the coast. It would also take part in international efforts to rebuild Gaza. The proposal, however, does not include details on key issues likely to be discussed over the next two days. For example, in the agreement, Hamas wants the right to build a seaport and an airport in Gaza. Hamas is worried that if it does not secure this right now, Egypt will fail to force Israel to concede in talks after a long-term cease-fire is set. Another clause pertains to fund transfers; the main issue is the salaries for 45,000 Hamas employees that were frozen under Israeli pressure. Other issues include the way to transfer funds to rebuild Gaza, and whether Hamas would be allowed to receive other donations and aid. Also, would the PA be the destination for aid donations? How would Qatari aid donations be sent? Who would supervise funding for construction projects, and how? Another issue is the terminology; the proposal does not mention Hamas and Islamic Jihad but rather "Palestinian factions" and "the Palestinian government." Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad want to be mentioned in the agreement, though both Egypt and Israel are opposed. Meanwhile, Israel needs to agree with the Palestinian government on what kinds of goods and products would be allowed into Gaza, in what quantities, and how they would be inspected. All this must be done in a way that would "end the blockade," according to the Egyptian proposal. Even this wording is controversial, as Israel claims there is no blockade and has demanded that the agreement only mention the easing of restrictions at border crossings. If Israel accepts the Egyptian proposal, it would effectively acknowledge the blockade and agree to lift it. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
