Ireland will continue to press, at EU level and elsewhere, to maintain focus on the need both to reconstruct Gaza and to work to break the cycle of violence which has operated there. The EU has consistently called for the opening of Gaza, and a broad change of Israeli policies there, most recently in the Conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Council in November last. I made these points directly to the Israeli Foreign Minister during my visit to the region in February.
During my visit, I saw for myself the huge humanitarian needs in Gaza. Some reconstruction has indeed begun. UN agencies have to date been concentrating on the huge task of clearing rubble to allow for new building to take place, and in the meantime in repairing houses which were damaged but not destroyed. At the time of my visit, more than 47,000 people had obtained repair materials for their homes through the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism. I was pleased to announce Irish funding of €4.7 million for UNRWA and the UN’s Emergency Response Fund in the course of my visit.
Clearly, more needs to be done in all these areas – for donors to make good on their pledges, for increased supply of construction materials into Gaza, and ultimately for the opening of Gaza to normal trade and movement.
I do urge the Egyptian Government to try to keep the Rafah crossing point open as much as possible. However, we must recognize that Egypt is fighting a growing insurgency in northern Sinai, some of which they believe has links to groups in Gaza, and their own security is at present their priority concern. This was underlined by the attacks in Sinai which killed at least 14 Egyptian police, soldiers and civilians on Sunday, including a bomb attack in El Arish, the city and port directly outside Gaza. I offer our condolences to the families of all those killed or injured.
