Gaza protesters break into UN compound over funding cuts

GAZA CITY - Hundreds of Palestinians broke into the United Nations headquarters in Gaza City on Wednesday in protest of the suspension of aid to local families struggling through the winter without adequate shelter.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said a lack of international donor funding forced it to suspend its cash assistance programme, which paid for rental subsidies and the repairs and rebuilding of homes that were damaged during the 51-day war between Hamas and Israel last summer.

“We never [thought we would] get to this stage," Adham Abu Selmia, spokesman for the Committee to Break the Seige, told reporters at the UN office gate. "The world is taking part in this collective punishment together with the Israeli occupation."

More than 96,000 Palestinian homes were damaged or destroyed during the war, UNRWA reported.

The international community pledged $5.4bn to help rebuild Gaza at an October donor conference in Cairo. UNRWA requested $720m of that amount to fund its cash-assistance programme.

"Virtually none of it has reached Gaza. This is distressing and unacceptable," Robert Turner, UNRWA's operations director in Gaza, said in a statement.

"We are talking about thousands of families who continue to suffer through this cold winter with inadequate shelter. People are literally sleeping amongst the rubble; children have died of hypothermia."

Since the war ended, UNRWA said it received $135m in donor funding; of that, $77m went to 66,000 Palestinian refugee families to repair their homes or find alternative housing.

The agency said it needs $100m to sustain the rebuilding programme through the end of March.

'No results, as always'

The Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza has made it nearly impossible to bring in the required materials to rebuild the war-ravaged territory.

According to Israeli NGO Gisha, which monitors the siege, between the end of the war and the end of last year, 34,570 tons of reconstruction material entered the strip as a part of the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism, a UN-supervised process set up by Israel and the Palestinians.

This represents only 3.9 percent of Gaza's reconstruction needs, which total five million tons of material.

Meanwhile, anger in Gaza continues to grow.

One of the protesters on Wednesday, Abu Ahmed, told Middle East Eye that the landlord of the small apartment he lives in has requested payment, overdue since December 2014.

Without the money, he said he has no option but to protest. "The usual demonstrations will bring no results, as always," said Abu Ahmed, adding that he may be forced to move his family to a UN facility in Gaza City.

Indeed, UNRWA expressed concern that if it cannot provide rental subsidies, many may return to UN centres, where almost 12,000 displaced Palestinians continue to seek shelter.

Abu Selma blamed Israel for the crisis, while also calling on Egypt - as mediator in ceasefire talks in August and host of the international donor conference - to pressure foreign states to pay the amounts they pledged for Gaza's reconstruction.

Other protesters blamed the Palestinian Authority, accusing the Ramallah-based leadership of staying silent, and the Palestinian consensus government for not providing for the needs of Gaza's population.

As the protest continued in Gaza City, tires burned in front of the UNESCO building, sending black plumes of smoke into the sky.