“Dual-use” items complicate Gaza relief efforts
An Egyptian Red Crescent document seen by Reuters and sources in Gaza showed that Israel prevented the entry of items into the Strip on board aid trucks, including water purification devices, medical supplies, and tent poles, but Israel denied preventing the entry of any of them.
Israel inspects trucks heading to the Palestinian Strip to prevent the entry of any items it deems likely to be of “dual use,” civilian or military, according to a policy it has been implementing for a long time before the Hamas movement’s attack on Israel on October 7 and the war that followed. in Gaza.
But the issue of determining which items are allowed to enter or not has become more urgent and controversial as the war develops. The conflict displaced most of Gaza’s population and caused severe shortages of food, water, medicine and other basic needs.
The Egyptian Red Crescent document, which dates back to mid-December, shows that 1,200 water purification devices, 100 oxygen cylinders, one oxygen generator, 1,000 solar-powered units, 24 power generators, and 418 medical supplies have been banned from entering since the start of the war.
The Coordination Unit of Government Activities in the Palestinian Territories (COGAT), a body affiliated with the Israeli Ministry of Defense that coordinates aid deliveries with the United Nations and humanitarian organizations, said this is not true.
Colonel Elad Goren of the Government Coordination Unit in the Palestinian Territories said during a press conference on Friday, “We do not reject anything that falls under four main headings: food, water, medical supplies, and shelters. “All of these things come into play every day.”
COGAT reported that 11,220 tons of medical supplies, including X-ray machines, CT scan machines, and oxygen generators for hospitals, entered Gaza, in addition to purification units for the water desalination plant and other mobile purification units for water desalination.
“Cause problems”
But doctors in hospitals in Gaza said that equipment such as oxygen cylinders and X-ray machines were not arriving despite the urgent need for them. They attributed the problem to Israeli inspections without specifying how they knew that.
A humanitarian worker with an international relief organization, who requested to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter, said that they were aware that certain types of medical equipment, including X-ray machines, “cause problems.”
The war broke out when Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel pledged to eliminate Hamas and responded to its attack by bombing, invading, and besieging Gaza, killing more than 22,000 people, according to health officials in the Strip, in addition to causing a severe humanitarian crisis represented by displacement, hunger, and disease.
Kobi Michael, former advisor to the Israeli government for Palestinian affairs, said that it is likely that inspections have been tightened since the beginning of the war compared to the system that was followed before it, and it has become less stringent over the years.
Michael, who is currently a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, explained, “I think what is most worrying to Israeli inspectors now is what equipment might enable Hamas to extend its stay in the tunnels.” He added: “Israel wants to shorten the duration of this war, and this means reducing the period that Hamas can spend underground.”
The Egyptian Red Crescent document was handed over to a group of European representatives during their visit to the Egyptian city of Al-Arish, where aid trucks are being loaded, and the Rafah crossing from which it enters Gaza. Spanish MP Soraya Rodriguez later provided Reuters with it.
Rodriguez and fellow Irish MP Barry Andrews said they learned during their visit that in some, but not all, cases, Israeli inspectors excluded tent poles for unclear reasons. “How could this be military-useable?” Andrews said. “It is very difficult to understand.”
Tents without poles
Kogat said that Israel has no plan to remove tent poles, and that 13,490 tons of supplies intended for shelters, including tent poles, entered Gaza during the war in 923 trucks.
In Rafah, inside the Gaza Strip, Reuters reporters saw a pile of what looked like thick canvas tents lying on the ground in a corner of Kuwait Hospital. Hospital Director Dr. Suhaib Al-Hams said that the tents were lying in this way because they were delivered without poles.
A pile of tents dumped in the Kuwaiti Hospital in Gaza because they have no poles (Reuters)
An official at the Ministry of Social Affairs in Gaza said that he was aware of the arrival of about 150 tents without poles out of 30 trucks loaded with tents.
Ashraf Abu Sakran, a construction worker who was displaced from his home in Gaza City, said that he rejected an offer to get a tent without poles. Instead, he bought some thin wood and tarpaulins and set up a shelter in Rafah, where he currently lives with his wife and five children, one of whom suffers from a disability. “Where am I supposed to find metal poles?” he said. “We lost our house and can’t even find a good tent.”
Some of the confusion may be due to whether Israel prevents some items due to dual use, or they do not reach Gaza for other reasons, or the lack of a published list of specific dual-use items.
A displaced Palestinian sits in front of a tent made of wood and tarpaulin in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip (Reuters)
When Cugat was asked to provide a list of these items, Reuters referred to one dating back to 2008 that is available online. Ten categories of purposes fall into this list, such as communications, electronics, advanced materials, payment, and information security.
An Israeli official familiar with the matter, who requested to remain anonymous, cited fertilizers that can be used to make explosives, iron that may be used in making missiles, and materials needed to make drilling equipment as examples of dual-use materials. “Without that, we cannot expand and risk giving terrorist groups ideas about what to do with such materials,” the official added.
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2024-01-07 07:38:53
