Politics Slows Rebuilding in War-Ravaged Gaza Strip

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip—When Abdelraziq and Jihad Harara returned to their homes in Gaza after last year’s 50-day war between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas, they found only rubble. More than a year later, Abdelraziq has nearly rebuilt his home, while the lot next door where his brother’s house once stood is still empty. The contrasting fortunes of the Harara brothers illustrate how political differences among wealthy Gulf Arab states have played a large role in who gets ahead in the struggle to rebuild their lives from the ruins of last year’s war between Hamas and Israel. The air-and-ground war left 11,000 homes destroyed and caused an estimated $4.4 billion in damage in the coastal enclave, according to the Palestinian Authority.Abdelraziq was fortunate—he received aid from Qatar. So were relatives of some of the 2,200 Gazans the enclave’s health ministry says were killed during the war. They got help from the United Arab Emirates, which is channeling money to Gaza through a former head of an Arafat-era Palestinian security force. Jihad is one of the many unlucky ones. He’s still waiting for relief funds promised by Kuwait. Officials of Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, view efforts by some Gulf Arab states and other donors to use relief aid to advance their political agendas as foolhardy.
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Ech one of these countries wants a say in Gaza,” said Ziad al Zaza, a senior member of Hamas’s political bureau. “We will never allow anyone to have a say in Gaza except the Palestinians.”Some 16 months after the war’s end, Abdelraziq said he and other displaced Gazans would take cash from Israel if it meant living in their own homes again soon. They don’t care about politics, he said. There used to be 19 buildings just in this area,” Abdelraziq said, gazing across his Shujaiyeh neighborhood. “One has been rebuilt so far,” he said.
Less than two months after the latest Israel-Hamas war ended in late August 2014 with both sides claiming victory, foreign donors met in Cairo and pledged $3.5 billion in reconstruction aid for Gaza. Gulf Arab states, where pro-Palestinian public sentiment is strong, promised more than half the amount, or $1.9 billion.
To date, however, $1.2 billion of the $3.5 billion has been delivered, with Gulf states dispensing only about $170 million. Like other donors, Gulf governments have attached conditions on how their aid money is spent, according to Palestinian, United Nations and World Bank officials.


“Donors have different requirements and priorities,” said Bashir Rayyes, who coordinates the Gaza aid effort for the United Nations and reports to the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank.
Chief among these differences is their views about Gaza’s rulers. While Qatar supports Hamas, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have grown more aggressive in recent years in their opposition to Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups across the region.
With the blessing of Hamas, Qatar has an office in Gaza from which it employs contractors and local workers to carry out road, school and home reconstruction. It has spent only a fraction of the $1 billion it pledged in Cairo, instead disbursing funds it promised to Gaza after the previous Israel-Hamas war in 2012.
Ahmad Abu Rass, who heads the office, said Doha won’t shell out more cash in Gaza until other donors step up efforts to fulfill their pledges. A half-hearted aid effort only sows more despair among Gazans and sets the stage for another round of fighting, making any aid a wasted investment, he said.
To prevent Hamas from benefiting directly from its aid, Saudi Arabia is channeling money to Gaza mainly through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, or Unrwa.

A general view of the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City on July 26, 2014.   Photo:  Zuma Press  The U.A.E. is funneling some of its assistance through Mohammed Dahlan, a former top official in Fatah and ex-head in Gaza of Yasser Arafat’s Preventive Security Force, Hamas’ main Palestinian political rival.
From the U.A.E., where he fled after top Fatah officials accused him of plotting to overthrow Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the Gaza-born Mr. Dahlan has distributed thousands of dollars each to families who lost relatives in last year’s war, Hamas officials said.Kuwait has opted to bypass Hamas, too. It is working with the Palestinian Authority to start paying out its promised $200 million in reconstruction aid, beginning with about $75 million for home reconstruction, Mr. Rayyes said.Government officials in the U.A.E., Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment. A spokeswoman for Mr. Dahlan also declined to comment.It isn’t only political jockeying among donors that has slowed the delivery of aid.Before rebuilding materials could be delivered, better detection systems were demanded at Israeli-controlled border crossings to prevent Hamas from using reconstruction material to rebuild the tunnel network it employed effectively against Israel during the 2014.
Continued feuding between Hamas and its rival Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority, has also impeded the aid effort.Despite an agreement in April 2014 to form a unity government for the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in practice it has meant the two sides operating parallel ministries and offices in Gaza, and fighting for control over aid distribution.
Abdelraziq Harara, 53, was one of the lucky ones, though. He was one of the first 1,000 Gazans promised help to rebuild his home when Qatar finally started distributing aid three months ago. The $50,000 to reconstruct his home was delivered in four installments.When his 65-year-old brother Jihad visited the same ministry of public works office in Gaza City, he was promised funds—eventually. Last month, he was told Kuwait would supply the money but arrangements for the payments were still being made with the Palestinian Authority.
As Qatar’s maroon-and-white flag flew above a completed house nearby, Jihad said he had no control over what country aided him or why. He just hoped the money would come soon.

“If the Israelis built the house, I’d fly the Israeli flag.”


http://www.wsj.com/articles/politics-slows-rebuilding-in-war-ravaged-gaza-strip-1451407828