Israel's blocking of food and aid deliveries worsens Gaza conditions

Israel’s blocking of goods going into Gaza has begun to take a toll on the Palestinian enclave, with some bakeries closing and officials warning of growing risks to the environment, including possible discharges of raw sewage into the sea, Reuters has reported.

The move is intended to pressure the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, to accept Israeli conditions for the ceasefire. It applies to food, medicine and fuel. Hamas describes the measure as “collective punishment” and insists that it will not be pushed into making concessions at the discussions.

The UN Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, said that the decision to halt humanitarian aid threatens the lives of civilians exhausted by 17 months of “brutal” war. It pointed out that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are dependent on aid.

Nasser Al-Ajrami, head of the Gaza bakers’ union, told Reuters that six out of the 22 bakeries still able to operate in the enclave had already shut after they ran out of cooking gas.

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“The remaining bakeries may close down in a week or so should they run out of diesel or flour, unless the crossing is reopened to allow the goods to flow,” he said. “The 22 bakeries were not enough to meet the needs of the people, with six of them shutting down now, that would increase the demand for bread and worsen the conditions.”

Israel has blocked the entry of food into the territory since last week in a worsening standoff over a ceasefire that has halted fighting for the past seven weeks. The move has led to a hike in prices of essential foods as well as of fuel, forcing many to ration the already meagre amount of food that they are able to get.

Displaced from her destroyed house and living in a tent in Khan Younis, 40-year-old Ghada Al-Rakab said that she is struggling to secure basic needs. The mother of six bakes some goods for her family and neighbours, sometimes renting out a makeshift clay oven for a symbolic price. “What kind of life are we living? No electricity, no water, no life, we don’t even live a proper life. What else is left in life? May God take us and give us rest,” she said.

In Israel’s latest punitive measure, Energy Minister Eli Cohen said on Sunday that he had instructed the Israel Electric Corporation not to sell electricity to Gaza, in what he described as a means of pressure on Hamas to free hostages.

The measure would have little immediate impact, as Israel already cut the power supply to Gaza at the start of its genocide. It would, however, affect a wastewater treatment plant presently supplied with power, according to the company.

The Palestinian Water Authority said that the decision suspended operations at a water desalination plant that produced 18,000 cubic metres of water per day for the population in central and southern areas of the Gaza Strip.

Mohammad Thabet, the spokesman of the Gaza power distribution plant, told Reuters that the decision will deprive people in those areas of clean and healthy water, leaving them subject to environmental and health risks.

“The decision is catastrophic, municipalities now will be obliged to let sewage water stream into the sea, which may result in environmental and health risks that go beyond the boundaries of Gaza,” said Thabet.

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He added that there was not enough fuel to operate stand-by generators in desalination and sewage plants, noting that the existing generators were outdated and hardly functional.

Fighting in Gaza has been halted since 19 January under a ceasefire agreement, and Hamas has exchanged 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. However, the agreement’s first phase has expired and Hamas and Israel remain far apart on broader issues including the post-war governance of Gaza and the future of Hamas itself. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had refused to send his negotiators to Qatar to discuss the second phase, insisting instead on an extension to the first phase in an effort to get all of the hostages back without having to withdraw the occupation army from Gaza and end the war.

Arab mediators, Egypt, Qatar and the US are trying to salvage the ceasefire deal. They held talks with Hamas leaders and are set to receive Israeli negotiators in Doha on Monday.

Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif Al-Qanoua told Reuters on Monday that the movement is committed to the original phased agreement and expected mediators to “compel” Israel to begin talks on implementing the second phase of the deal. Phase two is intended to focus on agreements on the release of remaining hostages and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

Israel is reneging on the original agreement and is demanding that Hamas should free the remaining hostages without beginning phase two negotiations.

Qanoua said humanitarian sanctions would also affect hostages in the group’s custody as well as Palestinians. “It [Israel] will not free them [the hostages]) except through negotiation,” he said.

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