Israel Matzav

Barak cracks on Gaza

Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak cracked this evening, agreeing to allow in medical supplies and a small amount of diesel fuel for Gaza's power plant. Unfortunately, I expect that the fuel will go for rocket-making while the 'Palestinians' try to convince the world that the sky is falling over Gaza.

Meanwhile UNRWA complained that it is running out of plastic bags, and therefore will not be able to provide food aid within a few days.

"We are going to have to suspend operations on Thursday or Friday ... because we are running out of plastic bags we use for food, and we are running out of fuel," said Chris Gunness, spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which distributes food aid to 860,000 Palestinian refugees in Gaza.

Most of Gaza's 1.4 million residents are reliant on food aid for survival. However, another UN agency which provides food to 270,000 Gaza residents said it had enough supplies only until the end of this week.

UNRWA will run out of the plastic bags on Thursday, said its Gaza director, John Ging. The bags are used for sugar and lentil rations.

Ging said he expected fuel supplies to run out at the same time. UNRWA is now giving emergency fuel supplies to hospitals and pharmacies. The agency operates schools, medical clinics and distributes food throughout Gaza.

"All the humanitarian agencies on the ground are trying to avert a disaster but we are running out of time, Ging said."We are all in a very vulnerable situation because of limited supplies."

Ging said his staff submitted an application to the Defense Ministry, which controls what can enter Gaza, to receive more plastic bags. He said the application was approved on Sunday, but that Israel had already sealed off Gaza by that time.

Israeli Knesset member Benny Elon has a much better idea for how to deal with UNRWA: Shut it down!

Elon explained that UNRWA, a group dedicated solely to assisting the “refugee” descendants of Arabs who fled Israel in the 1940s, is creating a drawn-out humanitarian crisis and encouraging attacks on Israel. “The international community needs to rehabilitate the refugees” and provide them with permanent homes, he said. Elon has called for Arab refugees to be granted Jordanian citizenship.

You have to admit that if after sixty years these people are still living on food aid, UNRWA has been totally ineffectual.

For those wondering, there have been Kassam rocket and mortar shell attacks on the western Negev today. But they are much fewer and further between than they were last week. I guess it's harder to make rockets when you have to scrounge around for materials.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:52 PM