It’s difficult to get a handle on the tone of a recent report by the radical left-wing organization Gisha.
In a recent article, they report on how much building materials such as concrete and cement have been brought into Gaza since the end of Operation Protective Edge in August 2014.
| Trucks | Tons of Material | |
| Private use (Reconstruction) |
Advertisement 722 |
34,570 |
| Qatar projects |
1,496 |
104,198 |
| International Organization Projects |
960 |
57,636 |
| Totals: | 3,178 |
196,404 |
Gisha complains that this amount isn’t nearly enough, making up only 3.9% of the amount of building material that Gaza needs to for reconstruction.
They claim that Gaza needs 5 million tons of building materials.
It would appear that Gisha is ignoring the estimated 3 millions tons of concrete rubble already in Gaza that can be recycled and reused for many projects — though that 3 million tons presumably includes the 800,000 tons of concrete originally used to build Gaza’s terror tunnel network that Hamas claims is already being rebuilt.
In the article, Gisha mentions that not a single home from the 20,000 destroyed homes hasbeen rebuilt since the construction material was first allowed back in.
But it is not clear who exactly Gisha is criticizing for that, or what they are implying.
So where did the concrete go?
An Israel Channel 2 reporter spoke with Gazans in December, and they said they haven’t seen any private reconstruction going on, only some main roads.
Based on the international mechanisms that were set up between the UN, Israel and the PA, every individual Gazan whose home was damaged need only fill out a form and they will receive the building materials they need to rebuild.
And yet the left-wing organization Gisha divulges that not a single new home has been rebuilt, despite nearly 35 tons and 722 trucks of construction material being brought in specifically for that purpose.
The Channel 2 reporter asked the Gazans about the construction material they were supposed to receive, and one Gazan in the construction business told him that the Gazans are reselling all their building materials on the black market to buy food and supplies – even though organizations like UNRWA supposedly supply them with the basics.
He claims that individual Gazans can’t afford to rebuild their homes, even after being given all the raw materials for free.
Which brings us back full circle, with one basic question.
Israel is allowing in building materials, more than enough for the Gazans to be rebuilding their homes.
There is enough recyclable construction material in Gaza to last them for years.
Individual Gazans are selling their construction material on the black market (to someone).
Despite the presence of international organizations who are supposed to be in Gaza helping them rebuild and ensuring that building materials do not go to Hamas, no one actually sees any help from them in rebuilding their homes, other than providing them raw material which they resell, presumably to Hamas.
Despite the multiplicity of NGOs supposedly concerned with Gaza, none of those NGOs seem to be helping the Gazans physically rebuild.
Despite having all the raw materials and the manpower, no one in Gaza is helping one another rebuild their homes, and certainly Hamas and the PA, their own government(s), isn’t helping either.
Which leaves us with one question: how many terror tunnels is Hamas currently rebuilding with all the redirected construction materials?