Gaza could erupt again if no recovery, UN official warns

A top UN official warned Thursday of another potential conflict in the Gaza Strip, urging Israel to lift its blockade and Palestinians to end infighting to avoid further violence.

The United Nations also called for an additional $705 million in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories, most of it for Gaza, which saw its bloodiest and most destructive war over the last summer.

“Right now, things are not going well, and we’re very concerned about the possibility of a further conflict,” James Rawley, UN humanitarian chief for the Palestinian territories, told AFP.

“To have a complete recovery of Gaza, even to go back to where we were in July requires more than construction material going in. It requires a lifting of the blockade,” said Rawley.

“In parallel, we have to see a commitment from the militant groups in Gaza to stop firing rockets at civilians in Israel… and Palestinian reconciliation moving forward” to reassure donors that building materials will not fall into the hands of militants, he added.

Rawley called for a “reconstruction hudna (truce) for three to five years” to allow rehabilitation of the increasingly unstable coastal enclave.

At a news conference in Ramallah Thursday, Rawley said 75 percent of the additional aid it needs would be destined for Gaza, and the remainder for the West Bank.

The July-August conflict between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers killed over 2,100 Palestinians, according to UN and Palestinian tallies and left 100,000 Gazans homeless. Israel said up to half of the Gazans were fighters and said Hamas fired rockets from civilian areas, forcing it to target residential areas. It thus blamed Hamas for all civilian deaths.

Seventy-three people were killed on the Israeli side, including 66 soldiers.

Delivery of building materials to reconstruct damaged homes in Gaza had increased significantly after a slow start, Rawley said, with “good cooperation” from Israel, which controls two of Gaza’s three main crossings. Egypt controls the third.

He also stressed the importance of implementing a months-old unity deal between West Bank-based Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas. The deal has snagged over salary disputes and a disagreement over who controls Gaza’s checkpoints.

Palestinian Authority Deputy Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa dismissed reconciliation as the principle concern for stability in Gaza.

“I think reconciliation will help, but I don’t think it’s the problem today,” he told the Ramallah news conference.

“The real test” would be to ensure funding and bring in more construction material, he added.