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Israeli restrictions compromising aid work

Palestinian Umm Azziz Kifayyah, 73, left, and her grandchildren gather around a hand-made heating stove outside her house in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday. PHOTO: AP

Israeli restrictions on movement in the West Bank and Gaza could neutralize increased aid to the Palestinians, aid groups warned, but the Palestinian prime minister said he failed to win a pledge from Israel to ease the measures.

Israeli roadblocks in the West Bank and a virtual quarantine of Gaza were on the table on Thursday when Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad met Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Israel maintains dozens of checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank, saying they're needed to keep out Palestinian attackers, including suicide bombers. Already tight restrictions on Gaza were increased after the Islamic militant Hamas overran the territory in June.

Gaza was the focus of violence on Thursday when rocket fired by Gaza militants hit a house in the Israeli border town of Sderot and seriously injured an Israeli woman.

The incoming UN Middle East envoy, Robert Serry, denounced Thursday's rocket attack in unusually strong terms. "Let me be clear about this: We consider that to be terrorist acts," he said.

A few hours later, Israeli aircraft blew up a car in Gaza City, killing three militants, Palestinians said. The Israeli military said the target was a Palestinian cell that fired rockets at Israel earlier.

After their meeting, Fayyad was asked if Barak agreed to ease the travel restrictions. "It's a one-word answer -- no," Fayyad said.

`"Donors are being asked to fund the Palestinian Authority, whose funding needs are at least in part caused by these [Israeli] restrictions," he said. "Clearly, the tradeoff is there for everyone to see."

Next week in Paris, nations that have donated funds to the Palestinians in the past are set to meet. They will hear a request for US$5.6 billion in new aid.

But the World Bank warned that unless the Israeli restrictions are eased, additional aid may be a waste of money. Another international aid group, Oxfam, echoed that conclusion.

Even if the donors pay the full amount, the Palestinian economy would keep shrinking by about 2 percent a year as long as the Israeli restrictions remain in place, the World Bank wrote in a report on Thursday.

Oxfam said aid projects are stuck because Israel is not allowing raw materials into Gaza.

Israel supports the donors' efforts and has an interest in seeing the Palestinian economy recover, government spokesman Mark Regev said on Thursday. Regev said that if restrictions are eased too quickly, Palestinian militants trying to torpedo peace efforts could carry out more attacks. Talks on a final peace deal resumed on Wednesday.

In Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories is worsening. Gaza's situation is particularly dire.

Referring to the donors' conference, the ICRC called for immediate political action to alleviate the suffering. The Red Cross rarely addresses conflict parties so openly, preferring instead to raise its concerns through less public channels.

"The measures imposed by Israel come at an enormous humanitarian cost, leaving the people living under occupation with just enough to survive, but not enough to live a normal and dignified life," said Beatrice Megevand Roggo, ICRC's head of operations for the Middle East.
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