Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By simmons on October 9, 2015

29 September 6 October | Issue 113

Due to lack of sufficient funding, to date, over 47,000 refugee families have not received the first tranche for repair works of their shelter. UNRWA has processed these cases and they have received approval through the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism; as soon as funding is secured, the Agency can distribute the urgently needed assistance to these families. Also, due to lack of funding thousands of refugee families were not yet able to start the reconstruction of their totally demolished home.

On 30 September the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, convened the Ad-hoc Liaison Committee meeting (AHLC) in New York. The AHLC is committed to the principle of trilateral dialogue between Israel, Palestine and donor governments. The meeting was opened by its Chair, the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Brge Brende and involved Palestinian and Israeli government representativesand the two co-sponsors US Secretary of State John Kerry and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini. Mr. Ban spoke about the challenging and volatile situation on the ground in Israel and Palestine and mentioned that bold and concrete actions are urgently required to stabilize the situation. He mentioned the importance of the acceleration of the reconstruction process in Gaza and called on international partners to disburse the funds pledged at the Cairo Conference. He also said that energy and water are desperately needed in Gaza. He furthermore stated that for Gaza to flourish, it will need to be able to trade with Israel, with the rest of Palestine and with the world. The Chairs summary reiterated the fact that economic development is conducive to peace and repeated the Secretary Generals call to step up reconstruction in Gaza, which depends on speedier donor aid, the resumption of Palestinian Authority-governance in Gaza and the further easing of restrictions on movements and goods by Israel, including the dual-use list.

The Palestinian flag was raised for the first time at United Nations headquarters in New York City on Wednesday, 30 September. This is a day of hope. May the raising of this flag give rise to the hope among the Palestinian people and the international community that Palestinian statehood is achievable, said United Nations Secretary General, Mr Ban Ki-Moon as he attended the ceremonial flag raising, along with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Now is the time to restore confidence by both Israelis and Palestinians for a peaceful settlement and, at last, the realization of two states for two peoples. I sincerely hope that a successful peace process will soon yield a day when we unfurl the Palestinian flag in its proper place among the family of nations as a sovereign Member State of the United Nations, added the Secretary General. Earlier in September, the UN General Assembly decided to raise the flags of non-member observer States at UN offices.

Operational environment: For the month of September 2015, the UNRWA Gaza Safety and Security Division (SSD) reported a decrease in security incidents in Gaza, from 201 incidents (79 related to armed conflict) in August, to 182 incidents (66 of them related to armed conflict) in the past month. Part of the decrease is assessed as being attributed to UNRWA averting the suspension of the Education Programme. A decrease in incidents directly affecting UNRWA was also recorded, with 34 incidents in September, compared to 61 incidents in August. This is the lowest number since before the 2014 conflict.

Furthermore, in September, there was a reduction in rocket fire, with 12 incidents reported, a decrease from 25 in the previous months reporting period (August). Yet whilst there was a reduction in armed conflict incidents in September, recent indicators highlight that this can change quickly, based on internal developments in Gaza or external factors in the West Bank and Jerusalem. On 30 September, Israel responded to rockets from Gaza with seven missiles into Gaza. This incident can be viewed as the most severe response since the end of the 2014 conflict.

On several occasions, incidents of political or inter-communal violence were reported. On 28 September, unknown persons reportedly abducted a man in Gaza City and released him later in a different area, severely beaten. The police arrested the perpetrators. On 29 September, a brawl erupted between supporters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian politician Mohammad Dahlan in Deir El Balah, central Gaza; slight injuries were reported. On 2 October, a dispute between cousins in southern Gaza resulted in six injuries due to the use of edged weapons. Several persons were arrested.

On several occasions during the reporting week, Palestinians tried to illegally cross into Israel and were arrested by Israeli troops.

Repeated protests were held in front of UNRWA installations over the past week, with refugees demanding a housing unit in the Rafah Rehousing Project. Regular protests were also held in support of Al Aqsa Mosque or Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

For the month September, UNRWA SSD reported a total of 69 demonstrations in Gaza, with 20 being staged at UN installations.

Ibrahim Jobour (second from the right), one of the three co-founders of the UNRWA supported social enterprise Gaza Gateway, is participating in a panel discussion at the Gaza Expotech Technology Week, held from 5 to 8 October. 2015 UNRWA Photo by Khalil Adwan

The Gaza Expotech Technology Week is taking place from 5 to 8 October under the slogan Palestine is smart. The purpose of the conference is to create awareness among youth of the capabilities of information technology (IT) to improve the daily life of different community groups, particularly women, persons with special needs and youth.

Ibrahim Jobour, one of the three co-founders of the UNRWA supported social enterprise Gaza Gateway, participated in the conference. In a panel presentation, he explained the role of the Gaza Gateway in promoting employment prospects for young IT graduates, through the outsourcing of business opportunities to private companies in Gaza.

One part of the Gaza Gateway mission is to create a freelancer platform that aims at helping to address the chronic unemployment in Gaza by opening the global market to IT specialists in Gaza. The platform tries to create international partnerships to mainstream freelance opportunities (online self-employment) to Gaza IT specialists, Ibrahim said.

Each year, approximately 1,000 Palestinians graduate with computer-related degrees in Gaza, yet according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), in 2014 75.1 per cent of them remained unemployed after graduation. The Gaza Gateway initiative tries to build a bridge from IT graduation to private sector employability, with a view to demonstrating that Gaza can deliver competitive commercial services. The aim is to outsource employment opportunities to the Gaza IT sector particularly the fresh graduates by using international market demand. Through this, the Gateway offers integrated post-graduate training for young IT professionals, grows and develops the Gaza IT market and its professional capacity, and ultimately blends business and social objectives, creating a sustainable socio-economic impact in the Gaza Strip.

The Gaza Gateway is an UNRWA initiative, which in quarter one of 2016 will become fully independent from the Agency. However, it will continue to provide services solicited by UNRWA to assist in addressing refugee needs.

During the reporting week, Israeli troops fired at Palestinians near the security fence and at Palestinian boats on an almost daily basis. In September, the UNRWA Gaza Safety and Security Division (SSD) reported a total of 21 shooting incidents along the land border with Israel and 18 incidents of naval fire.

On 29 September, militants fired one rocket from northern Gaza towards Israel; the rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome. On 30 September, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) fired seven missiles towards Gaza, allegedly targeting a Hamas training site and a Marine Police site in northern Gaza as well as a Hamas training site in Gaza city. On 30 September, militants fired a rocket from northern Gaza towards Israel; the rocket dropped short and landed inside Gaza. On 1 October, militants fired two rockets from central Gaza towards Israel; both dropped short and landed inside Gaza. On 2 and 3 October, militants fired one rocket towards Israel from southern Gaza; both rockets dropped short and landed inside Gaza.

On 4 October, militants fired one rocket from Gaza city and one from Khan Younis, southern Gaza, towards Israel; one rocket dropped short and the other one landed in an open area in Eshkol Regional Council in Israel.

On 5 October, militants fired four test rockets from Khan Younis towards the sea. On the same day the IAF fired one missile targeting a Hamas training site in Gaza city.

On 30 September, six Israeli bulldozers entered approximately 150 metres into Gaza areas and Israeli troops conducted a clearing and levelling operation, withdrawing on the same day. On 2 October, four bulldozers entered approximately 100 metres into central Gaza and conducted a clearing and levelling operation, withdrawing on the same day.

Thanks to generous donors, UNRWA has overcome its immediate and most serious financial crisis and was able to partially bridge the US$ 101 million deficit in its General Fund; to date, a shortfall of US$ 13.5 million remains.

In response to the unprecedented needs faced by Palestine refugees, and the continuous financial shortages and unstable financial footing of the Agency, UNRWA is currently exploring options for additional funding, but is also implementing a series of austerity measures aimed at decreasing costs where possible while preserving essential services to refugees.

US$ 227 million has been pledged in support of UNRWAs emergency shelter programme, for which an estimated US$ 720 million is required. This leaves a current shortfall of US$ 493 million.

As presented in UNRWAs oPt Emergency Appeal, the Agency is seeking US$ 366.6 million for its 2015 emergency operations in Gaza, including US$ 127 million for emergency shelter, repair and collective centre management, US$ 105.6 million for emergency food assistance, and US$ 68.6 million for emergency cash-for-work.Read more in the 2015 oPt Emergency Appeal.

Continued here:
Gaza Situation Report 113 | UNRWA

Category: Gaza Strip
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