Gaza

Claims Made at Oireachtas Committee that Markets in Gaza are Not Short of Basic Produce Lack Credibility

13 March 2010

Assertions made by the former Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Mr Dore Gold, at today’s meeting of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee, that the food stalls and shops in Gaza are full and plentiful are not based on reality, the Committee has said.

Mr Gold claimed that he is not aware of any major shortage of produce or foodstuffs in Gaza’s markets or shops and suggested that the level of deprivation in Gaza is overstated. Mr. Gold attended today’s meeting to give an updated picture on the Middle East and to outline an Israeli perspective on the conflict.

Committee Chairman, Dr Michael Woods TD said;
“Shipments into Gaza remain at no more than a subsistence level for basic necessities and make no provision for reconstruction of commercial life. Any suggestion that the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip are not suffering intolerable humanitarian conditions is simply spurious.

Mr Gold claimed that food shortages don’t exist and that there is ample supply of goods in the shops. Unlike members of this Committee, Mr Dore has never been to Gaza and witnessed at first hand the ongoing humanitarian crisis there. A blatant misrepresentation of the situation on the ground is extremely unhelpful and Israel cannot ignore the obvious.

The Committee welcomes the suggestion that the Israeli government may allow a number of reconstruction and rehabilitation projects planned by the UN for many months to finally get underway. Gaza cannot recover without its ruined infrastructure being properly rebuilt.

We support the efforts being made by the Obama administration to freeze the extension of settlements and to encourage all sides to participate in proximity talks with a view to advancing the peace process.”

Mr. Dore is currently the President of the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs. According to this agency, it “focuses on the main issues affecting Israel's security and international standing in order to wage the war of ideas in global opinion and has developed and implemented an array of cutting-edge programs to present Israel's case to the world".