UNRWA Deputy Commissioner General warns of disastrous consequences if Israeli-Gaza crossing not re-opened – UNRWA press briefing

Press Statement by Filippo Grandi

Deputy Commissioner General

United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)

Gaza City, 9th August 2007

Good morning ladies and gentlemen.

I have had an extremely useful visit to Gaza, during which I have seen first hand the deep and far-reaching impact of the closures on the lives of ordinary people and on industry.

In Beit Hanoun I visited families whose homes are in a lamentable condition. Across Gaza, UNRWA has been forced to halt all of its construction projects – some 93 million dollars worth – because we have been unable to import building supplies in sufficient quantities. We urgently need to get these into Gaza if we are to avoid a significant worsening of the living conditions of those who have waited months, and even years to have their own homes.

Our meetings with businessmen highlight the urgency of opening up the crossings, not just for humanitarian supplies, but for imports and exports. According to the latest figures from the Palestinian Association of Businessmen, the PAB, the total accumulative loss to industry in Gaza has reached 23 million dollars since June – that amounts to an average of half a million dollars lost every day, since the closures were imposed. If this continues, the PAB predicts that at least

120,000 workers in Gaza will lose their jobs. In the construction sector alone, about 160 million dollars worth of projects have been halted, which includes UNRWA, UNDP and others.

In addition, we are concerned about the agricultural sector. Farmers in Gaza today face a terrible dilemma. Should they spend money preparing their lands for the next planting season and employ laborers in their fields? Should they take financial risks without any guarantees that they will be able to export their goods at the end of the harvest? And even if they do begin to prepare for the next season, there is no guarantee that they will be able to import such materials as fertilizer and other essentials which are produced outside Gaza. If the agricultural sector is allowed to fail, Gaza will pay a high price. More than 13 per cent of the work force is engaged in agriculture.

Let me take this opportunity to issue a grave warning: Gaza risks becoming a virtually one hundred per cent aid dependent, closed down and isolated community within a matter of months, or even weeks, if the present regime of closures continues. The window of opportunity in which we can address this most urgent situation is small and fast closing. The fragility and unpredictability of aid, in this highly complex and volatile political situation, is dangerous: particularly in view of the vulnerability of those we serve. And so I issue an appeal but also a warning to all actors involved in the conflict: both political and humanitarian.