Whatever happened to the billions of dollars in aid the international community was supposedly sending to Gaza?
Ha’aretz
Amid pomp and optimism, a conference of donor states met in Egypt last October to collect the funds needed to rehabilitate the Gaza Strip in the wake of Israel’s 2014 Operation Protective Edge. Twenty-two countries were represented at the meeting, which was viewed as the first step toward a new era that would transform Gaza into a developed region. The war would turn out to be a blessing in disguise. What was laid waste would be rebuilt by the donor states.
As with every such gathering, the promises flowed freely: from Hungary, which pledged $160,000, to Norway – $145 million – to Saudi Arabia, which promised half a billion dollars. All told, more than $5.4 billion was collected on paper, of which $3.5 billion was earmarked for Gaza’s rehabilitation. That handsome sum would cover most of the damage inflicted in the war, which the Palestinians estimated at $4.5 billion.
But after all the self-congratulations, most of the promises have remained just that – promises. According to a report drawn up last month by the World Bank for the committee established by the donor states conference to oversee the collection of the funds, only $967 million – about a quarter of what was pledged – has been transferred for rehabilitation of the Strip. And even that figure is misleading, because 45 percent of it constitutes commitments that existed before the war, or was funding injected into Gaza for urgent humanitarian needs during the war. Thus, only about 13 percent of the funds transferred represent new pledges.
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The report adds that most of the countries actually met their commitments, but this constitutes only about 6 percent of the donations, whereas the seven major donors – which pledged $2.7 billion between them – have transferred only 19 percent of their commitments. For example, Turkey, which agreed to donate $200 million by 2017, has so far sent slightly more than half a million dollars.
These dry figures do not tell the whole story. A large portion of the funds is earmarked for rebuilding public structures, schools and road infrastructure, but the slow process of bringing in construction materials for those projects is significantly delaying Gaza’s rehabilitation.
Israel is now allowing the entry of more of these materials than before, about 450 tons a day. But with tens of thousands of houses awaiting reconstruction, and with more than 100,000 people lacking a proper roof over their head – 3,000 tons a day are needed. And even if all the buildings are restored and Israel allows free passage of construction materials, that will still not be enough to rehabilitate the economic situation in the Gaza Strip.
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According to an International Monetary Fund report, unemployment in Gaza stands at 43 percent (60 percent in the 15-29 age bracket), earning the Strip the distinction of having the highest rate of joblessness in the world. More than 80 percent of the population relies on aid from international institutions – whose budgets are also meager – and more than 60 percent live below the poverty line. The average wage in Gaza is $174 a month, and exports are only 5 percent of the GDP.
These numbers should frighten everyone who is trying to predict when the Gaza Strip will explode again. The regime of closure imposed there eight years ago has not prevented the outbreak of at least two wars, nor has it fomented political change. Though the closure has been eased somewhat, it will continue to be part of the well-known recipe for the next confrontation.
