COGAT update 27 November

Good news!


Israel allowed an aid convoy into Gaza on Wednesday 26. Including Jordan’s 10 trucks, OCHA and COGAT agree the following:


Kerem Shalom:
437,420 litres of fuel for the power station
130 litres of gas
60 tons milk powder and baby food
57 tons rice
183 tons meat, chicken and fish
83 tons dairy products
60 tons sugar
362 tons flour and yeast
6 tons medication
Total 865 tons on 39 trucks


Karni:
264 tons wheat
396 tons animal feed
Total 660 tons on 20 trucks

That’s a total 1525 tons on 59 trucks – still well below average but a significant improvement on last week.

Also:
21 patients and chaperones went for medical treatment in Israel
7 aid workers entered Gaza and 6 left for Israel

Bad news:
Sufa still closed. But everything else open!


Let’s hope this signals the return to a more ‘normal’ state of affairs for Gazan aid soon. No word yet on whether Libya’s 3000 tons has arrived – we’ll keep you posted.

Jordan announces 10 more trucks

Following Monday’s announcement of a 10-truck delegation into Gaza, the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO) announced it has sent another 10 truckloads of aid in with today’s convoy, loaded with food and humanitarian supplies.

UAE aid not getting through?

Emirates News Agency (via Reliefweb) is reporting that aid it claims to have sent to Gaza has not yet arrived, and is being held by Israel.

Prior to the current lockdown, Israel had a policy of letting through any and all aid convoys of which it was previously notified. No statement has been made yet on changes to that policy in the current situation.

COGAT update 26 November

Yesterday’s summary: some power station fuel, some people, no food or medical aid. Gaza’s power station was shut apparently for lack of fuel today. Israel sent 440,000 litres yesterday but that hasn’t translated into power.


Bad news:
Nahal Oz (fuel), Karni, Sufa, Kerem Shalom (goods) all closed.

Good news:
66 Gazans went into Israel for medical treatment or to chaperone others.
9 aid workers entered Gaza and 16 left for Israel.


The BBC reports on an aid shipment today; we’ll report as soon as we have all the details.

UN launches 2009 Global Humanitarian Appeal

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres launched the UN’s annual humanitarian charity appeal in Abu Dhabi on Monday. The occupied Palestinian territories (UN’s term for the combined Gaza and West Bank) are among 12 recipients of the $7bn that Guterres expects to raise.

UNHCR notes that this is the largest single appeal since the start of the annual process in 1991.

In translation: "The United Arab Emirates, a country with a long tradition of generosity and support for humanitarian causes and Islam, [together] provide a solid basis [upon which to build] international law on refugees," said António Guterres.

Qatar launches charity drive for Gaza children's hospital

A Qatari charity has launched a 2 million riyal (£350k) fundraising drive for nephrology and cardiology units at the Children Specialised Hospital in Gaza. Half the money will go to 'kidney and speculum sections' and half for neurology and cardiology.

All Qatari philanthropists are encouraged to donate!

3000 tons of aid en-route from Libya

Haaretz this morning reports that a ship from Libya has set sail for Gaza laden with 3,000 tons of humanitarian aid.

Israel has no diplomatic relations with Libya so it seems unlikely that the ship will be allowed to enter a Gazan port directly. There’s no statement yet on whether Libya has contacted Israel to negotiate safe passage for the ship, which would probably be a sensible option given the touch-and-go situation surrounding the three earlier sea aid cargoes.

You can now subscribe for updates on this and any other news of aid to Gaza here (or in the white box on the right).

COGAT and OCHA: Detailed reports of 24 November convoy

There’s some ambiguity over Monday’s aid delivery so we will report both here.

OCHA-oPt

(UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories)

Good news:

45 truckloads of food and medical aid entered Kerem Shalom.
15 truckloads (of grain and animal feed) entered Karni

Grand total, 60 truckloads.

10 of the 45 trucks were destined for UNRWA and the rest were delivered to Hamas officials for distribution.

Bad news:

UNRWA states that 15 truckloads a day are required to sustain their support programmes across Gaza.

COGAT

(Israeli Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories office)

Good news:

29 truckloads of food and medical aid entered Kerem Shalom – total 661 tons.
20 truckloads were unloaded at Karni – total 455 tons.

Grand total, 49 truckloads, 1,116 tons.
What was in the Kerem Shalom trucks:

30 tons of milk and baby food

123 tons of rice

133 tons of dairy products

278 tons of flour and yeast

97 tons of cooking oil

440,400 litres of fuel were unloaded at the Nahal Oz fuel terminal.

33 Gazans entered Israel as patients or chaperones.

14 aid workers entered Gaza and 7 left.

Bad news:

Sufa (goods) crossing remained closed.

More tomorrow?

Jordan sends 10 aid trucks

As part of this Monday’s convoy of aid, Xinhua reports that Jordan provided 10 trucks of medicine and food via the Jordanian Hashemite Charity Organisation.

In total, Jordan has sent over 240 trucks into Gaza over the last few years.

Backgrounder by Mitchell Bard

Mitchell Bard, of the Israel-supportive Myths and Facts website, has published this background briefing on the current situation in Gaza.

UNRWA monthly update

Lots of useful statistics here. The report, published at the start of November by UN’s Relief and Works Agency (responsible for the Palestinians) is heavy with quotations clarifying their beliefs, but provides a very pragmatic breakdown nevertheless.

Good news:
Of 460 requests for medical assistance in October, 355 were accepted (77%) and 343 turned up for their appointments. This compares with an average 81% in 2007 and 65% so far in 2008. Nobody with a valid pass was denied access.

Nahal Oz (fuel) shows as being open 65% of the time, which compares favourably with the only other recorded statistic, 58% in August. This represented 245 truckloads of fuel, a below average amount.

Additionally, UN and CAP report $312.7m of funding for aid and development assistance to the oPt as a whole

Bad news:
The number of medical assistance requests processed was down in September and October as a result of Israeli worker strikes. 460 requests compares with 874 in August and 976 in July, for instance.

The figures for humanitarian aid entering Gaza on page 5 make bleak reading – 50 tons daily in through one crossing (Karni), compared to 156 in 2006; and zero export, compared with 17 tons daily in 2006.

Useful summary from COGAT

COGAT have published a convenient summary of all aid transferred by Israel into Gaza since the June 19 ‘tehediyeh’ (lull, calm) announcement.

It’s available here at ReliefWeb.

       

Caravan from Morocco

OCHA reports that Morocco is sending a convoy with 2 tons of medicine and medical equipment to Gaza.

As of 20 November, it had reached Cairo. We await further updates.

Should it not be allowed access into Gaza directly, it will be handed over at Rafah.

COGAT updates 23 and 24 November

Yesterday no Gazan rockets fell in Israel and so Israel allowed a convoy of aid and fuel into Gaza.

UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness said “It is just not enough,” to Reuters. UNRWA regularly states that it needs 15 truckloads per day to sustain normal operations.

OCHA oPt’s weekly report states that UNRWA suspended food distribution last week on 13 November and reinstated it on 17 November, the day of Israel’s last convoy of aid.

OCHA also reports that rolling blackouts continued in Gaza as only 13% of the Gaza power station’s needs were fulfilled last week.

Let’s hope for better this week.

A bit of good news:
We’re still awaiting the details of what went into Gaza today (tonnage and variety).
Meanwhile, in the past 48 hours, 81 Gazans travelled into Israel for medical treatment (or to chaperone others).
And in the same time period 19 aid workers entered Gaza and 11 left.

Bad news (of course):
All goods crossings remained closed over the weekend.

Israel says that if rockets continue not to fall, aid will continue to go in.

Kerem Shalom to open today

Ehud Barak, Israeli defence minister, has allowed through a convoy of aid this morning. More details soon.