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Occupied Palestinian Territories - Humanitarian Update, January 2008
22 February 2008
Summary of monthly Humanitarian Monitor report produced by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
KEY ISSUES OVERVIEW
Update on Gaza closure
On 15 January, Israeli forces moved into the Shajaya and Zeitoun neigbourhoods of Gaza City for a period of about 48 hours. Following this incursion clashes took place between the IDF and Palestinian militants at other different locations. During the first days of fighting, at least 18 Palestinians were killed, along with an Ecuadorean kibbutz volunteer who was shot by Palestinian militants as he worked in fields close to the Gaza border fence. After the incursion, militants launched dozens of rockets and mortars across the Green Line. On 18 January, Israel announced that it was suspending the movement of fuel and goods into Gaza. Within days, the Gaza power station had run out of fuel and ceased operation for approximately two days.
Within days, Gaza's water authority also reported that many of its facilities had run out of fuel and it was unable to operate its wells, leaving 40-50 per cent of the population with no access to running water. The water utility's ability to treat sewage was also hampered by the reduced supplies of diesel and its lack of spare parts, which Israel has refused to allow to enter since June 2007. By 20 January, authorities were forced to pump raw sewage into the sea at the rate of 40 million litres per day for ten days, because it could not pump it to the treatment plants.
On 22 January, Israel began to allow goods and fuel to enter Gaza, averting an immediate disaster. The following day, militants destroyed the steel border wall which divides Gaza from Egypt. Crowds of Gazans entered Egypt, many of them buying goods that had been barred by Israel, such as cement and fertiliser.
Impact of fuel & electricity shortages on health services in Gaza
Israel's decision to halt the entry of fuel into Gaza had a significant impact on the provision of health services. As a result, the average number of hours of electricity outage per day increased to 12 hours, which affected the provision of health services at the MoH health facilities during the period of 17-31 January. Three out of the 11 MoH hospitals faced severe shortages of fuel and two declared a "state of emergency." The provision of diagnostic services and dental services stopped in 32 (out of 56) MoH Primary Health Care facilities (PHC); immunization services were maintained with difficulties; the provision of Reproductive Health (RH) services was also affected by the interruptions to the fuel supply and electricity outages.
Demolitions & displacement in the West Bank
January saw approximately 215 Palestinians displaced as a result of house demolitions by the Israeli authorities, primarily due to the lack of almost-impossible-to-obtain building permits in Area C in the West Bank. A total of 57 demolitions were reported in the West Bank in January 2008, of which 25 were inhabited, residential structures. This is the highest total number of West Bank demolitions since February 2006. Over three quarters of those displaced are Bedouin, whose communities, located in Area C, were forcibly removed by the Israeli authorities for the cited reason of a lack of building permits.
Weather crisis threatens West Bank livelihoods
Since December 2007, the West Bank has been subject to a series of weather shocks - drought, frost, snow - each compounding the effect of the other. The rainy season, which began in mid-November, generated insufficient rainfall. The drought hit hardest the most vulnerable communities, those dependent on herding sheep and goats, who were already struggling with poverty and debt caused by rapidly escalating costs of essential animal fodder and water. The extended period of frost in mid-January 'burnt' many of the surviving grazing plants and crops, and caused high death rates amongst sheep and goats, especially new born lambs. Snow during the last week of January, while it relieved the immediate water shortage, caused further deaths of lambs. Many herders report lamb death rates of 50% or more, thus eliminating most of their potential income for 2008. Poverty means they have little food and the intense cold affected them badly. The very poorest are selling their sheep, but this still leaves them in debt. Even those who have coped well thus far are near the end of their resources. If they are unable to sustain their livelihood via herding, they are likely to become aid dependent.
Support to mitigate effects of weather shocks
The period of intense cold in January that resulted in five deaths in Israel from hypothermia made evident the need to mobilize an emergency response targeting those most vulnerable to hypothermia-related death and related illness in the West Bank. Through the Humanitarian Emergency Response Fund (HERF), heaters, heating fuel & fire wood were provided to allow families in these communities to heat their tents shacks in the evening. Blankets and mattresses were also provided. A total of 19,898 Palestinians from 135 communities benefited.
REGIONAL OVERVIEW
West Bank & East Jerusalem
IDF operation in Nablus city - On 3 January 2008, the IDF launched a three day military operation in Nablus city, the stated aim of which was to arrest a number of wanted Palestinian militants hiding in the city. During the operation, the approximately 20,000 residents of the old city of Nablus were placed under curfew for 64 hours. According to the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, the curfew prevented 13 schools in the city from providing education to 5,700 students.
Stop Work Orders in Khirbet Tal al Khashaba (Khirbet at Tawayel), 'Aqraba, Nablus District - On 9 January 2008, the IDF distributed 15 stop construction orders affecting structures in Khirbet Tal al Khashaba (also known as Khirbet at Tawayel), an offshoot of the town of 'Aqraba in the Nablus District. Stop construction orders are issued prior to the issuance of a demolition order. The orders are applicable to 10 houses, two water cisterns, the mosque, the restrooms of the mosque, and a 5km stretch of the electricity grid (funded by the Belgium Technical Cooperation via donation to the Palestinian Energy Authority), that is used by the 'Aqraba Municipality to connect the houses in the Khirbeh to electricity.
Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
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