Stalling of Gaza rebuilding causes outrage

Ramallah: Palestinian contractors and economists in the Gaza Strip have warned that they will boycott the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM), which they say is a waste of time and effort.

Dissatisfaction and anger about the inefficiency of the GRM — a temporary agreement between the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Israel and the United Nations to rebuild the coastal strip after the 2014 Israeli war — is spreading among Gazan contractors and economists who are working to eliminate it.

Under the theme “Cancelling the Reconstruction Mechanism,” the Coordinating Council of Gazan Institutions recently held a strike to express their outrage.

“This mechanism is aimed at foiling the reconstruction and development projects in the Gaza Strip,” said Osama Kaheel, who heads the Gaza Contractors’ Syndicate. “Work under [the GRM] should stop effective immediately, before it can devastate what remains of the Palestinian economy in Gaza.”

The World Bank says that less than half of the money pledged by donors to rebuild the Gaza Strip after the 2014 war between Hamas and Israel has been disbursed.

The shortfall is among several reasons the Palestinian economy is stagnating, with unemployment at 42 per cent in Gaza and at 18 per cent in the West Bank.

Around 75,000 Gazans are still displaced from their homes, as a $3.5 billion (Dh12.86 billion) effort to rebuild Gaza from the destruction of the war creeps along at a pace officials say has fallen years behind schedule.

Kaheel said that the objective of the GRM has never been to enable construction and reconstruction work in Gaza.

“According to international reports, Gaza has already received 46 per cent of the pledged funds from the international community, while less than 10 per cent of the reconstruction work has been completed,” he told Gulf News. “A great portion of the money is spent on the administrative supervision and surveillance processes imposed by the GRM.”

The international community pledged to rebuild more than 12,000 homes destroyed by Israel during its 2014 aggression on Gaza, however only 3,000 have been constructed.

Kaheel warned that work on all the projects will be suspended if a new and effective mechanism that meets Gaza’s needs is not put in place. He urged the PNA to take a stand in this matter and to act in the interests of the Gazans who can no longer survive the lasting devastation.

“Reconstructing Gaza will take decades should Israel keeps its strict policies in place, which prevent Gaza from importing cement and other construction materials,” said Kaheel. “In the past two years, Gaza was only permitted to import less than 1 million tons of cement, while four times that quantity were needed for work to continue at a reasonable pace.”

Israeli, Palestinian and international officials worry that the economic and humanitarian plight in the isolated coastal territory will ensure continued instability, and that a new war may only be a matter of time. Last year, the United Nations warned that Gaza may become uninhabitable by 2020 if there is no change in the economic situation.