Short of major funding and free access to building materials, initial reconstruction efforts in Gaza will remain symbolic, writes Saleh Al-Naami With great eagerness, Salah Al-Ayed, 52, his wife and children stayed awake past midnight until the electricity in their district in Al-Nossairat Refugee Camp in the centre of the Gaza Strip returned. Al-Ayeds were waiting for their eldest son Hassan to access the website of the Ministry of Public Works to find out if his family was included on the list of families whose homes will be reconstructed, after they were destroyed by Israeli forces in their last war on the Gaza Strip. But Hassan did not have good news for his parents -- this family was not on the list. Al-Ayed's two-storey home, which housed 15 people, was destroyed when a US-made Apache helicopter manned by Israelis launched several missiles at the building on 5 January 2009, eight days after Israel began its brutal assault. Since then, he and his family have been renting a small apartment on the outskirts of the camp. At the end of last week, Al-Ayed's family had been hopeful that their suffering would end when Gaza government Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh announced that the first phase of reconstruction would begin to rebuild what the Israeli occupation army had destroyed. Al-Ayed told Al-Ahram Weekly that when he inquired at the Ministry of Public Works about the criteria for rebuilding destroyed homes, he was told that priority would be given to the poorest families who have no means to rent housing and are living in tents. Sure enough, Jamal Bashir's family, which lives in eastern Gaza City, was overjoyed when it was contacted by the ministry as amongst those chosen to have their homes rebuilt in the first phase of reconstruction. The news stunned the family, which had for two years lived in tents through bitter winters and sweltering summers. Beginning the reconstruction of what was destroyed by Israel revived hope amongst thousands of Palestinians whose homes were levelled during the last war, when the occupation army obliterated 3,600 homes and partially damaged more than 5,000 others. Jaber and his family of nine have braved severe winter weather in tents, so he was elated that the ministry told him that his home too would be rebuilt in the first phase of the project. "I always felt like a failure towards my children as I watched them unable to sleep because of the cold," he said. "I am very hopeful that this suffering will come to an end." It is certain that the first phase of rebuilding will completely evacuate the tent districts that mushroomed spontaneously in some areas in the Gaza Strip to shelter those whose homes were destroyed. The minister of public works and housing in Haniyeh's government, Youssef Al-Mansi, declared that his government is committed to rebuilding every home that was damaged during the war, "without exception or discrimination". "The first phase, which the ministry launched, will begin simultaneously across the Gaza Strip with what building materials we have," Al-Mansi told the Weekly. "The pace of construction will only be affected by the supplies of building material at our disposal. We have the funds, data and information and have already started working." Al-Mansi noted that occupation forces have for four years blocked the passage of construction materials into Gaza, and even though the siege was partially relaxed after the events surrounding the Freedom Flotilla, Tel Aviv still refused to allow steel and cement and other building materials to enter. Al-Mansi explained that in the first phase, construction would begin on one-storey homes and repairing damaged homes. He asserted that this would financed by the government, and not by any donor countries. "We heard of billions of dollars pledged at economic conferences and in Sharm El-Sheikh, but not one single dollar has reached us," he said. "The [money] is linked to political preconditions to compromise on principles, and that will never happen." The minister said that the Palestinian government has budgeted tens of millions of dollars for the first phase of the project, in the hope that it will secure Arab, international and charitable donations to finish the phases that follow. Al-Mansi added that his government would allow homeowners to choose the construction companies and contractors to rebuild their homes. As for funding, he explained that "citizens will be given cash instalments to begin construction with a contractor, and we will monitor and follow-up to ensure safety building codes." Al-Mansi said that the first phase would rebuild 1,000 homes with the hope that this number will be doubled if more funds are donated. Al-Mansi added that charitable organisations would supervise the rebuilding process. So far, the Gaza government, in cooperation with the Gulf Cooperation Council project for the reconstruction of Gaza and the Islamic Development Bank, has almost completed building 100 homes. He further said that his ministry has put together a team of engineers to monitor construction, and that the new homes will be fully equipped. Al-Mansi disclosed that a dispute has erupted between the Gaza government and UNRWA because the latter has not used the money given by donor countries for construction. "The feeble excuses of UNRWA are parallel to what the occupation is doing against Gaza," Al-Mansi retorted, "because it is allowed to bring in construction materials across the borders with Gaza or through the Rafah border with Egypt. It has many agreements with the occupation power that would allow it a wide margin of manoeuvrability to begin reconstruction." Palestinian economic expert Hamed Jad described the reconstruction initiative by the Gaza government as a partial solution because it will only rebuild one-storey homes. "We must realise that hundreds of homes that were destroyed had multiple levels, and that Israel destroyed large buildings that were used as government offices and residential buildings," Jad said. "This means that this project will not include such buildings." Jad explained to the Weekly that there are major obstacles hindering reconstruction, namely lack of raw materials, which means that current projects rely on materials smuggled through tunnels and debris from destroyed houses that is reused as rocks or bricks when rebuilding. "Any genuine reconstruction plan requires massive funding, which is not available to the incumbent government in Gaza," according to Jad. He continued that the reconstruction conference that was held in Sharm El-Sheikh in March 2009, pledged $1.5 billion for reconstruction, but not a single dollar was delivered. Jad said that donor states have not paid their pledges in aid because the Gaza Strip is under the control of Hamas, which European countries include on "the list of terrorist organisations". He doubted that donor states are now prepared to pay their dues, because every year they have a budget with specific articles, and these do not carry over into the budget of the following year. According to him, the success of the reconstruction project heavily depends on ending divisions within Palestinian ranks as soon as possible. This would allow the formation of a Palestinian government that rejected and met with hostility by the international community. It seems that despite the reasons behind its launch, the reconstruction project is a temporary solution for hundreds of Palestinian families who currently live without shelter. Accordingly, the plan will not permanently resolve the housing problem caused by the last war. Meanwhile, the need to end inter-Palestinian division is growing more and more. Azzam Al-Ahmed, head of Fatah inside the Palestinian Legislative Council and head of the movement's delegation to national dialogue talks, reiterated that first priority for any technocratic government is the reconstruction of what occupation has destroyed. "People have to feel a real outcome from unity."
