Since 2014, the UN – in cooperation with Israel and the PA – put together a process called the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism, or GRM, which allowed construction materials to flow into Gaza after Operation Protective Edge.
The UN has a webpage showing, very transparently, how much cement and other materials go into Gaza and to which projects (all of which are approved by Israel.)
Since this is a point of cooperation between Israel and the PA, I was curious as to whether the PA’s decision to stop coordination with Israel affected this work.
It did – quite a bit.
In the first two months of this year, 15000 tons of cement were imported into Gaza for approved reconstruction projects.
Over the past two months the amount of cement imported into Gaza has plummeted to less than 500 tons – a reduction of 97%!
We read a lot about how Israel’s “siege” of Gaza is “strangling” ordinary Gazans, how it is collective punishment for the entire population, how utterly horrible it is.
Yet since May, the Palestinian Authority has done far more to hurt Gazans – not only in importing construction materials but also in helping patients leave the territory to get medical attention. Babies have died because of this negligence on the part of Mahmoud Abbas.
The “pro-Palestinian” voices are completely silent. The “fair” media isn’t covering the story. Anti-Israel bias remains one of the bulwarks of NGOs and the international media.
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