My reply to the Deputy’s Question on 3 December included the phrase: "There has been some easing of the blockade in recent years". This is simply a matter of fact. The terms of the ongoing Israeli blockade of Gaza have been eased in a number of respects in recent years, including the removal of most items from the forbidden list, some degree of movement of building materials, a very limited opening to certain exports, and some easing of the constraints on farmers entering land near the border fence and on fishermen at sea. The Deputy will also recall that my reply went on to state, as an important qualification of the preceding words: "...but far too little to allow the Gaza Strip to resume normal life". This is a point I have consistently stressed at all times, but it will not help our case to refuse to acknowledge such small improvements as there have been, which are well known to all. I am of course glad to see that Amnesty International support my consistent call for a lifting of the blockade.
The current worsening of actual conditions in Gaza relates in large measure to factors additional to the ongoing Israeli blockade. These are the loss of the additional supplies formerly obtained through the smuggling tunnels from Egypt, as a consequence of developments in that country, and an ongoing dispute between the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas authorities in Gaza, who have refused to pay for the fuel supplies which the PA formerly sent to them, and which were allowed through by Israel.
I repeat my call in reply to a recent Question on this topic for all relevant authorities in the area to consider the effects of their actions on the ordinary people of Gaza, who are helpless among these conflicting forces.
