UNRWA requests $47 million for emergency aid in the Gaza Strip

The Commissioner of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has requested $47 million in emergency aid for the Gaza Strip to pay for the next four weeks alone.

In a speech that he gave in Cairo before the Arab League Council of Foreign Ministers on Sunday, Anadolu news agency quoted Pierre Krahenbuhl as saying: “There is a crying need for financial support now, today. Longer term reconstruction must also be addressed, but will depend on the outcome of negotiations on access to building materials.”

Israel has prevented the entry of many goods, including construction materials, into Gaza since Hamas won the legislative elections in early 2006, imposing a tight siege that was further tightened after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

Under Egyptian auspices, the Palestinians and Israelis agreed to a long-term truce in late August after a war that lasted 51 days, causing the death of 2,152 Palestinians and the injury of more than 11,000 others, as stated by Palestinian officials. According to the Israeli data, the war also resulted in the death of 68 Israeli soldiers, four civilians and one foreign worker, in addition to the injury of 2,522 Israelis, including 740 soldiers.

A statement issued by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry noted the truce includes a comprehensive ceasefire in conjunction with the opening of the crossings between Gaza and Israel with the aim of speeding the entry of humanitarian and relief aid, as well as reconstruction supplies into Gaza, which is inhabited by about 1.9 million people.

“My main message to you today is please do not wait for weeks before providing support,” UNRWA’s Krahenbuhl told the Arab ministers.

He pointed out that, with the necessary funds, UNRWA “can facilitate minor repairs like new doors and windows for hundreds of houses before the winter”.

“With funds now, we can give cash to thousands of homeless in order to rent temporary rooms, and to others to buy essentials to find their feet again,” he added.

“I am well aware that several donors have already give generously for refugee housing, new schools and clinics and emergency relief. We are grateful for that. But our programme costs – the money just to keep our 710 schools, 138 health centres and 40 food distribution centres running – exceed our ability to pay, which means that we face a deficit of $50 million this year, even after imposing severe austerity measures. I cannot overstate the precarious state of UNRWA’s finances,” Krahenbuhl warned.

The commissioner condemned Israel’s pounding of buildings belonging to UNRWA during the recent war on Gaza, noting that “on seven separate occasions, UNRWA schools being used as shelters were hit by shelling or other munitions, and dozens were killed, including children as they slept next to their parents on the floors of our classrooms.”

“We stood up and said this was an affront to all of us, a source of universal shame. Nothing justified or could imaginably justify Israel’s shelling of UN premises being used as civilian shelters, about which the Israelis have repeatedly been duly notified of precisely to ensure that they would be preserved.”

“We have called for accountability,” he added, “and today I reiterate that call for investigations into these very serious incidents. This must not be forgotten as attention turns understandably to other issues now that the fighting has stopped.”

The 142th session of the Arab League Council of Foreign Ministers kicked off on Sunday afternoon at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Arab League in Cairo.

During their meeting, the Arab foreign ministers discussed about 30 different items and drafted a resolution, drawn up by the Council of the Arab League for the permanent delegates during the past two days. The resolution addresses Palestine, the Syria crisis and conditions in Libya and Iraq, among other issues.